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SIDON 

A     STUDY     IN     ORIENTAL 
HISTORY 


BY 


FREDERICK  CARL  EI8ELEN 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements  for  the  Degree 

of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy 

Columbia  University 


Nftu  fork 
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Copyright  1907 
By  The  Macmillan  Company 


Set  up  and  printed  from  the  type 
Published,  May,  1907 


GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED 

TO 

PROFESSOR  RICHARD  J.  H.  GOTTHEIL,  Ph.D. 
TEACHER  AND  FRIEND 


160781 


NOTE 

The  Mediterranean  Sea  is  the  natural  meeting  place  of  the 
various  influences  that  have  proceeded  from  three  continents. 
The  life  of  those  cities  that  have  taken  a  prominent  part  in 
developing  the  countries  on  its  littoral  must  always  be  of  interest 
to  the  student  of  history.  Each  city  mirrors  not  only  the  general 
influences  that  were  at  work,  but  adds  thereto  its  special  quota 
of  peculiar  force.  The  role  played  by  the  Phoenicians,  during 
the  generations  of  their  power  and  influence,  as  mediators  be- 
tween conflicting  interests  gives  to  their  history  a  certain  attrac- 
tion. One  of  the  chief  centres  of  their  power  was  the  city  of 
Sidon,  and  in  the  present  volume  of  the  Columbia  University 
Oriental  Series,  Dr.  F.  C.  Eiselen  has  studied  the  history  of  that 
city  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  present  day.  For  this 
purpose  he  has  gathered  together  the  various  references  to 
be  found  regarding  Sidon  upon  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, in  Hebrew  literature,  in  the  classical  authors,  in  the 
records  of  pilgrims  and  in  the  historical  works  of  Mohammedan 
writers.  On  account  of  the  nature  of  the  sources,  his  account  of 
the  life  of  the  city  must  at  times  be  disconnected.  Future 
excavations  will  undoubtedly  enrich  our  knowledge  in  regard 
to  Sidon,  and  the  discovery  of  ancient  documents  written  by 
neighboring  peoples  will  fill  up  many  of  the  gaps.  As  far  as  our 
knowledge  reaches  at  present,  Dr.  Eiselen  has  carefully  brought 
together  all  that  is  to  be  found,  and  has  laid  down  the  general 
lines  of  development  along  which  the  city  passed,  first  to   its 

glory  and  then  to  its  decline. 

Richard  Gottheil. 
April,  1907. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


I.     Preliminary  Studies. 

1.  Topography  of  Sidon 1 

2.  The  Name  Sidon 10 

3.  Is  Sidon  Older  than  Tyre? 16 

II.     The  Political  History  of  Sidon. 

1.  The  Founding  of  Sidon 27 

2.  History  of  Sidon  to  the  Close  of  the  Tel-el- 

Amarna  Period  33 

3.  To  the  Destruction  of  Sidon  by  Esarhaddon....  40 

4.  To  the  Destruction  of  Sidon  by  Artaxerxes 

Ochus  55 

5.  To  the  Beginning  of  the  Crusades 68 

6.  The  Period  of  the  Crusades  82 

7.  To  the  Present  Day 102 

III.  Colonies,  Commerce  and  Industries  110 

IV.  The  Religious  History  of  Sidon 124 

V.     Antiquities  and  Inscriptions 138 

Appendix      I.— The  Kings  of  Sidon 155 

Appendix    II.— The  Coins  of  Sidon 157 

Appendix  III.— Antiquities  from  Sidon 164 


I.    PRELIMINARY  STUDIES 


CHAPTER  I 

TOPOGRAPHY   OF   SIDON 

In  the  wider  sense  the  term  Phoenicia  was  applied  by  the 
ancients  to  the  whole  territory  extending  along  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  from  the  Gulf  of  Issus,  which  separ- 
ates Cilicia  from  Syria,  to  the  desert  between  Palestine  and 
Egypt.1  In  a  narrower  sense  it  was  used  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  to  designate  a  strip  of  the  coast  land,  about  200  miles 
long  and  from  two  to  fifteen  miles  wide.  On  the  east  this  tract 
is  bounded  by  the  Lebanon  Mountains,  from  which  flow  the 
streams  that  water  the  plain.  The  northern  and  southern 
limits  are  more  difficult  to  determine,  as  they  varied  from  time 
to  time.  Generally  speaking,  the  territory  extended  from  a  few 
miles  beyond  the  Eleutheros  in  the  north,  to  Mount  Carmel  in 
the  south,  a  little  more  than  two  degrees  of  latitude. 

The  territory  is  mostly  level,  cut  here  and  there  by  headlands 
which  project  into  the  Mediterranean;  as  a  result,  the  long  and 
narrow  maritime  plain  may  be  conveniently  divided  into  smaller 
sections,  called,  beginning  from  the  south,  after  the  principal 
cities  located  in  them,  the  Plain  of  Acco,  the  Plain  of  Tyre,  the 
Plain  of  Sidon,  the  Plain  of  Beyrut,  etc.3  Following  this  division, 
the  Plain  of  Sidon  may  be  reckoned  from  the  Ras  $arafand,  a 
little  north  of  Sarafand,3  northward  to  the  Ras-al-Jajunieh,  a 
distance  of  about  ten  miles. 

1  Pliny,  Historia  naturalis,  IX,  12,  calls  the  Mediterranean  Sea  from  Cilicia 
to  Egypt,  Phcenicium  mare. 

2  Rawlinson,  Hist,  of  Phoen.,  p.  6ff. 

3  The  Biblical  Sarepta. 


2  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  S1DON 

The  plain  itself  is  very  narrow,  hardly  ever  more  than  two 
miles  in  width;  it  is  well  watered  and  very  fertile.  The  water 
is  supplied  chiefly  by  three  streams,  coming  from  the  mountains 
immediately  east  of  the  plain,  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly  in  the  north, 
just  inside  of  the  Ras-al-Jajunieh,  the  Nahr  Senik,  which  flows 
into  the  Mediterranean  immediately  south  of  Sidon,  and  the 
Nahr-az-Zaherany,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Sarepta. 
The  water  supply  is  supplemented  by  several  fountains,  among 
them  the  Ain-al-Kanterah  and  the  Ain-al-Burak1  between 
Sarepta  and  the  Nahr-az-Zaherany.  With  this  abundant  water 
supply  irrigation  of  the  less  favored  spots  becomes  quite  easy, 
and  it  is  practiced  extensively.  The  result  is  everywhere  abund- 
ant fertility  and  beauty,  of  which  writers  in  all  ages  speak  with 
much  enthusiasm.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century  A.D. 
Achilles  Tatius2  describes  a  grove  near  Sidon,  ' '  thickly  planted 
with  plane  trees,  through  which  flowed  a  stream  of  water,  cold 
and  transparent  as  that  which  proceeds  from  newly  melted 
snow."  The  Arabic  historians  and  geographers  allude  to  it 
again  and  again.  Idrisi,  writing  c.  1154,  speaks  of  Sidon  as 
surrounded  by  gardens  and  trees;3  Yakut,  c.  1225,  states  that 
there  are  large  quantities  of  vegetables  grown  around  the  town  ;* 
and  Ibn  Batuta,  1355,  calls  it  "a  town  full  of  fruit  trees."6 
Of  more  recent  travelers  Robinson  writes:  "The  beauty  of 
Sidon  consists  in  its  gardens  and  orchards  of  fruit  trees,  which 

fill  the  plain  and  extend  to  the  foot  of  the  adjacent  hills 

The  environs  exhibit  everywhere  a  luxuriant  verdure,  and  the 
fruits  of  Sidon  are  reckoned  among  the  finest  in  the  country."" 
Similarly   Porter:  "The   gardens   and   orchards   of   Sidon   are 

1  Renan,  Mission  de  Phenicie,  pp.  524,  665. 

2  De  Clitophontis  et  Leucippes  amoribus,  I,  near  beginning. 

3  Nuzhat  al-MuUdk,  ed.  Gildemeister,  p.  15;  translation  of  Jaubert,  p.  354. 

4  Mu'jam  al-bulddn,  ed.  Wustenfeld,  III,  p.  439. 

8  Tuhjat  an-nuzzar,  ed.  Defremery  and  Sanguinetti,  I,  p.  131;  cp.  also  John 
Poloner,  Palestine  Pilgrim  Texts,  Vol.  VI,  p.  29;  Jacques  de  Vitry,  P.  P.  T.f 
Vol.  XI,  C.  25;  Burchard  of  Mt.  Zion,  P.  P.  T.,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  13,  14.  Marino 
Sanuto,  Book  III,  Part  VI,  C.  6. 

8  Biblical  Researches  in  Palestine,  2d  edit.,  II,  p.  479. 


THE   PLAIN   OF  SIDON  3 

charming.  Oranges,  lemons,  citrons,  bananas,  and  palms  grow 
luxuriantly,  and  give  the  environs  of  the  old  city  a  look  of 
eternal  spring.  Sidon  is  one  of  the  few  spots  in  Syria  where 
nature's  luxuriance  has  triumphed  over  neglect  and  ruin."1 
And  Benzinger  writes:  "The  magnificent  gardens  which  form 
a  broad  belt  around  the  town,  especially  on  the  north,  are  the 
pride  of  Sidon.  Oranges  and  lemons  are  largely  cultivated  and 
exported;  almonds  and  apricots,  bananas  and  palms  also  grow 
here. ' n 

In  this  fertile  plain  stands  the  present  town  of  Saida,  in  north- 
ern latitude  33°  34'  5",  eastern  longitude,  from  Greenwich,  35° 
22'  34".3  It  is  situated  on  the  northwestern  slope  of  a  small 
promontory,  which  projects  here,  in  a  southwesterly  direction, 
for  a  short  distance  into  the  sea.  The  modern  town,  which 
extends  about  900  yards  from  northeast  to  southwest,  and 
somewhat  less  than  500  yards  from  east  to  west,4  stands  close 
upon  the  shore.  Evidently,  after  the  Crusades,  the  few  sur- 
vivors clustered  around  the  principal  harbor  of  the  ancient  town, 
which  was  north  of  the  promontory,  and  there  the  new  city 
grew  up  gradually. 

The  city  has  two  harbors,  but  only  one,  the  one  in  the  north,  is 
now  in  use.  Down  to  the  seventeenth  century  A.D.  it  was  a  very 
excellent  harbor,  but  in  the  early  part  of  that  century  the  Druse 
Emir  Fakhr-addin,  who  sought  to  wrest  Syria  from  the  Turks, 
ordered  it  to  be  filled  up  in  part,  so  as  to  prevent  the  landing 
of  the  Turkish  fleet,5  and  at  present  only  small  boats  can  enter. 
The  harbor  is  well  protected  in  the  west  by  a  rocky  island, 
which  runs  along  the  harbor  about  250  yards.  The  north  side 
is  protected  by  a  chain  of  small  islands  and  reefs,  which 
extend  in  a  northeasterly  direction  about  600  yards.  The 
present  entrance  is  immediately  west  of  the  most  easterly 
of    these    islands,    which    is    connected    with    the  city  by    a 

1  The  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  p.  275. 

2  Badeker,  Palestine  and  Syria,  ed.  1898,  p.  313. 

3  Ritter,  Geogr.  und  Stat.  Lex.,  II,  art.  Saida,  says  34°  22'  34". 

4  According  to  the  map  in  Badeker.  5  See  below,  p.   106. 


4  TOPOGRAPHY  OF   SIDON 

bridge.1  The  result  is  a  convenient  harbor  about  500  yards  long 
and  about  200  yards  wide.  The  natural  defenses  in  the  west  and 
north  were  strengthened  in  very  early  times  by  walls  built  of 
huge  blocks  along  the  reefs  and  islets,  remains  of  which  fortifi- 
cations may  still  be  seen.2  The  modern  bridge  connecting  the 
island  in  the  north  with  the  city  may  have  been  preceded  in 
antiquity,  before  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,3  by  a  strong 
wall.4 

Toward  the  south  is  a  second  harbor,  even  larger  than  the 
first,  which  extends  about  600  yards  from  north  to  south,  and 
nearly  400  yards  from  east  to  west.  It  is  surrounded  by  the 
mainland  on  the  north,  south,  and  east,  and  is  open  for  a  space 
of  about  200  yards  toward  the  west.  This  harbor  has  a  long 
stretch  of  sandy  shore,  and  hence  was  a  favorite  landing  place 
in  very  ancient  times,  when  it  was  customary  to  draw  the  vessels 
upon  the  shore  when  night  came.  This  second  harbor  can  be 
used  no  longer,  for  it  is  completely  filled  with  sand.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  at  one  time  the  two  harbors  were  connected  so 
that  vessels  could  pass  from  one  to  the  other.5 

Upon  the  island  in  the  north  are  the  ruins  of  a  medieval  castle, 
built,  in  the  thirteenth  century  A.D.,6  of  large  blocks,  which  in 

1  Gustav  Hanel  says  that  on  this  bridge  the  men  of  Sidon  spend  their  even- 
ings, smoking;  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  IV,  326. 

1  Renan,  Miss.,  plan  LXVII. 

3  Scylax,  who  belongs  to  the  period  preceding  Alexander,  calls  the  harbor  of 
Sidon  a  "closed  harbor;"  Peri-plus,  ed.  Hudson,  p.  42. 

*But  see  note  5. 

5  Achilles  Tatius,  I,  1;  Scylax,  Peripl.,  p.  42.  Pietschmann  holds — p. 
54ff . — that  the  so-called  southern  or  Egyptian  harbor  was  never  in  use.  He 
looks  for  the  second  or  outer  harbor  of  which  Achilles  Tatius  speaks  in  the 
small  bay  between  the  island  upon  which  stands  KaV at-al-Bahr  and  the  main- 
land in  the  north.  The  ancient  entrance  to  the  harbor  he  locates  east  of  the 
island,  and  he  thinks  that  there  was  a  passage  between  the  island  and  the 
mainland,  connecting  the  two  harbors.  There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
this  view;  but  additional  investigation  is  needed  to  decide  the  question. 

*  "The  part  of  the  fortifications  of  Saida  called  Kalaat  el  Bahar,  or  'castle 
of  the  sea,'  is  the  only  work  which  we  can  consider  with  certainty  a  con- 
temporaneous monument  of  the  Sajette  of  the  Crusades.  Yet  this  castle  dates 
only  from  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century.     It  was  built  during 


THE   HARBORS   AND   THE   CITY  5 

more  ancient  times  belonged  to  another  structure.  The  highest 
portion  of  the  modern  town  is  in  the  southeast,  where  stands  the 
KaVat-al-Mu'ezzeh,  the  ruins  of  a  citadel  said  by  some1  to  have 
been  built  by  Louis  IX.  On  the  land  side  the  town  is  enclosed 
by  a  wall  which  runs  across  the  promontory  from  sea  to  sea. 
The  city  itself  contains  few  attractions  and  few  marks  of  high 
antiquity.  The  streets  are  narrow,  dirty,  and  crooked,  like 
those  of  most  Oriental  towns.  Some  of  the  houses  are  large  and 
well  built  of  stone;  especially  those  along  the  eastern  wall  are 
distinguished  for  their  height  and  size ;  these  are  built  directly  on 
the  line  of  the  wall,  and  constitute  a  part  of  it.  Within  the 
town  are  nine  mosques,  the  largest  of  which,  J 'ami' -al-Kabir ,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  town,  was  formerly  a  church  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John.  In  the  open  space  south  of  this  mosque 
stood  the  palace  of  Fakhr-addin.  It  is  now  occupied  by  a 
Moslem  school.  Several  hundred  yards  to  the  northeast  stands 
the  mosque  of  Abtt  Nakleh,  formerly  a  church  of  St.  Michael;  a 
little  farther  in  the  same  direction  is  the  Khdn  Frans&wi,  a 
magnificent  structure  erected  by  Fakhr-addin.2  The  town  con- 
tains five  other  large  Khans.3 

One  of  the  most  interesting  places  outside  of  the  modern  town 
is  the  ancient  necropolis,  in  which  was  found  in  1855  the  sarcoph- 
agus of  Esmunazar.  It  is  located  near  a  place  called  Magharet 
Abltin,  i.e.,  cavern  of  Apollo,  about  1100  yards  southeast  of  the 
Acco  gate,  which  is  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  city  wall.4 
Another  ancient  necropolis  has  been  unearthed  east  of  the  city, 
about  1650  yards  from  the  sea,  near  al-Hdldliyeh.  Immediately 
west  of  this  village,  in  a  small  place  called  Ayaa,  in  size  about 
110  by  275  yards,  were  discovered  in  1887  a  number  of  Greek 
and  Phoenician  sarcophagi.5  Neither  of  these  burial  places 
goes  back  to  a  very  early  period  of  Phoenician  history;  indeed, 

the  winter  of  1227  to  1228";   Rey,  Etude  sur  les  monuments  de  V architecture 
militaire  des  croises,  p.  153;  see  below,  p.  94. 

1  Pococke,  Description  of  the  East  and  some  other  Countries,  II,  1,  p.  87. 

2  Below,  p.  105.  3  See  below,  p.  109.  *  Below,  p.  138. 
*  Below,  pp.  138,  139ff. 


6  TOPOGRAPHY  OF   SIDON 

it  is  certain  that  none  of  the  antiquities  found  there  point  to  a 
period  earlier  than  the  sixth  century  B.C.,1  and  perhaps  even 
later;2  hence  we  may  hope  to  discover,  at  some  future  time,  a 
necropolis  belonging  to  a  more  ancient  period. 

A  few  interesting  places  near  the  present  town  may  be  noted 
because  of  their  connection  with  the  past.  Between  the  city 
and  the  necropolis  in  the  south  is  the  Wely  Neby  Seidtin,  called 
by  the  Jews  the  tomb  of  Zebulon.  In  the  Arabic  name  of  this 
place  the  name  of  the  ancient  city  has  been  preserved  more 
accurately  than  in  that  of  the  modern  town.  Beyond  the 
necropolis  is  a  grotto,  now  a  chapel  of  St.  Mary,  which  in  ancient 
times  may  have  been  a  sanctuary  of  Astart.  About  half  a  mile 
farther  south,  near  the  village  Maghduseh,  is  a  cavern  called 
Magharet-al-Makdtira,  which  may  have  served  similar  purposes. 
The  site  of  another  Phoenician  temple  is  marked  by  the  Maronite 
chapel  of  Mdr  Elyds,  southeast  of  the  city.3  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  town  are  several  modern  cemeteries;  the  largest  of 
these  is  a  Mohammedan  burying  place  in  the  east.  An  ancient 
aqueduct  approaches  the  city  from  the  same  direction;  beyond 
the  gardens  it  turns  northward,  and  later  again  toward  the  east. 
By  means  of  this  aqueduct  drinking  water  was  brought  into  the 
city  from  the  springs  on  the  hills  beyond  the  plain.4 

Whoever  attempts  to  determine  the  topography  of  the  ancient 
city  encounters  serious  obstacles,  which  arise  chiefly  from  the 
fact  that  the  present  town  is  not  the  direct  continuation  of  the 
ancient  Sidon.5  The  history  of  the  former  begins  at  the  close  of  the 
period  of  the  Crusades;  and  the  topographical  data  supplied  by 
earlier  writers  are  very  few.  The  excavations  also,  which  thus  far 
have  been  confined  very  largely  to  the  burying  places,  have 
yielded  little  information.     However,  there  can  be  no  doubt 

1  Renan,  Mission,  p.  414;  cp.  503,  504.  2  Below,  p.  148ff. 

3  Perhaps  a  temple  of  Esmun ;  see  below,  p.  8,  n.  5. 

4  Z.  D.  M.  (?.,  VII,  39;  cp.  Renan,  pi.  LXVI. 

5  Renan  says,  p.  362,  "Until  the  discovery  of  the  great  necropolis  situated 
near  Magharet  Abl&n,  in  1855,  we  could  say  that  the  ancient  Sidon,  mother  of 
Canaan,  had  completely  disappeared."  Volney,  Voyage  en  Syrie  et  enEgypte, 
II,  p.  191,  calls  the  present  town  a  "degenerate  offspring  of  ancient  Sidon." 


THE   ENVIRONS  OF   SIDON  7 

that  the  ancient  city  was  much  more  extensive  than  the  modern  \ 
town.  In  the  first  place,  the  antiquities  unearthed  by  excavators 
have  been  found,  not  in  the  town,  but  in  the  gardens  surrounding 
it,  an  indication  that  these  gardens  flourish  upon  ancient  ruins. 
Then,  there  has  been  discovered,  running  in  a  southerly  direction 
from  Sidon,  a  series  of  Roman  milestones,  erected  in  198  A.D.1  The 
first  of  these,  which  marks  the  beginning  of  the  measurements, 
and  so  probably  the  centre  of  the  city  at  the  time,  stands  730 
metres  east  of  the  eastern  wall  of  the  present  town.2  We  may 
further  assume  that  the  necropolis  in  the  south  was  immediately 
outside  of  the  city  wall ;  the  same  seems  to  be  true  of  the  necrop- 
olis in  the  east.  If  so,  the  territory  between  the  latter  and  the 
present  town  must  have  been  a  part  of  the  ancient  city.  If  a 
necropolis  could  be  located  in  the  north,  the  extent  of  the 
ancient  city  in  that  direction  also  might  be  determined. 
What  the  future  may  bring  forth  it  is  impossible  to  say;  it  is  not 
probable,  however,  that  it  will  reveal  a  necropolis  in  the  north. 
On  the  other  hand,  recent  excavations  have  shown  that  the 
ancient  city  did  extend  much  farther  toward  the  north  than  the 
modern  town;  indeed,  as  far  as  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly.3  On  the 
southern  banks  of  this  river  have  been  unearthed  the  ruins  of  a 
temple  of  E§mun,  which  was  undoubtedly  within  the  city  proper. 
The  place  where  these  ruins  have  been  found  is  a  little  more  than 
1000  yards  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  c.  2900  yards  north- 
northeast  of  the  northern  gate  of  the  present  town,  c.  2500  yards 
from  the  southern  limit  of  the  necropolis  of  Ayaa,  c.  4400  yards 
from  the  tomb  of  Esmunazar,  and  c.  1200  yards  north  of  the  village 
of  al-Beramieh,  where  several  anthropoid  sarcophagi  have  been 
discovered.4  The  walls  of  the  temple  itself  form  a  rectangular 
enclosure,  about  197  feet  from  east  to  west,  144£  feet  from  north 
to  south.5    The  presence  of  a  temple  of  Esmun  in  this  place  is  in  y 

1  Renan,  p.  374ff. ;  cp.  Quarterly  Statement  of  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  1874, 
p.  199.  J  Renan,  p.  362.  3  Cp.  Dionysius,  Orbis  descriptio,  912,  913. 

4  Berger,  in  Mem.  de  VAcad.  des  inscr.  et  belles  lettres,  XXXVII,  268,  269;  cp. 
Renan,  pi.  LXVI,  No.  4. 

5  P.  E.  F.,  1903.  p.  180. 


8  TOPOGRAPHY  OF   SIDON 

itself  an  evidence  that  the  ancient  city  extended  at  one  time 
to  the  banks  of  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly.  In  the  ruins  of  this 
temple  have  been  found  numerous  inscriptions  of  Bod-astart, 
v  king  of  the  Sidonians,1  the  contents  of  which  point  in  the  same 
direction. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  still  much  uncertainty  concerning  the 
reading  of  some  parts  of  these  inscriptions;  but  nearly  all  scholars 
agree  that  the  king  mentions  in  them  several  distinct  sections  of 
the  city  of  Sidon.2  C.  C.  Torrey  thinks3  that  Bod-astart  means 
to  distinguish  between  three  separate  quarters.  The  principal 
district,  D*  ]1)£,  Sidon  by  the  sea,  covering  approximately  the 
site  of  the  present  town;4  the  second,  Df21  DDK',  High 
Heavens,  denoting  the  extension  toward  the  heights  just  back  of 
Sidon,  including  a  strip  of  hill  country  extending  as  far  north- 
ward as  the  city  itself  extended;5  the  third,  ^|KH  JHN,  the 
district  of  Reseph,  the  quarter,  in  the  nature  of  a  suburb,  extend- 
ing toward  the  north  and  northeast  as  far  as  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly. 
Of  the  different  interpretations  of  this  part  of  the  inscriptions, 
that  of  Torrey  is  the  most  simple,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
satisfactory,  and  surely  there  is  nothing  improbable  in  it. 
Why  might  not  a  city  of  antiquity,  as  prominent  and  prosperous 
as  was  Sidon  for  many  centuries,  have  extended  for  several  miles 
along  the  coast  of  the  sea? 

The  inscriptions  of  Bod  Astart  and  Esmunazar  do  not  take  us 
beyond  the  third  century,  or  the  last  years  of  the  fourth  century 
B.C.,6  but  what  is  true  of  the  extent  of  the  city  rebuilt  after  the 
destruction  of  Sidon  by  Artaxerxes  Ochus,7  is  true  also  of  the 

1  See  below,  p.  143. 

J  For  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  these  inscriptions  see  below,  p.  143ff. 

3  J.  A.O.  S.,  XXIII,  p.  156ff. 

*  Cp.  Esmunazar  Inscr.,  II.  16,  18,  D"1  p*  |"Wi  Sidon,  the  district  of  the  sea; 
also  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  4,  I.  5,  as  restored  by  Torrey,  p.  170;  see  also  Z.  D.  M.  G., 
XIX,  p.  537,  D"1  y~M,  the  district  of  the  sea. 

1  Cp.  Esmunazar  Inscr.,  II.  16, 17,  DT1N  ODt?,  to  which  a  similar  meaning  may 
be  given.  Clermont-Ganneau  locates  DD1  DOP  in  the  northeast  toward  the 
temple  of  Esmun,  OT1K  DOt?  in  the  southeast  toward  the  modern  Mar  Ely&s; 
Rec.  d'arch.  orient.,  V,  pp.  298,  299.  8  Below,  p.  15L  7  Below,  p.  65ff. 


EXTENT  OF   THE   ANCIENT   CITY  9 

city  which  became  thesuccessor  of  "Esarhaddonsburg."1  On  the 
other  hand,  a  very  important  section  of  the  city  destroyed  by 
Esarhaddon  seems  to  have  been  situated  upon  an  island,2  for 
he  calls  himself  "the  conqueror  of  Sidon,  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea,  the  overthrower  of  its  dwellings;  its  walls  and  its 
houses  I  tore  down  and  threw  them  in  the  sea,  and  destroyed  its 
site."3  This  island  may  have  contained  the  palace  of  the  king 
and  fortifications  of  various  kinds;4  but  the  limited  area  of  the 
islands,  even  of  the  largest,  or  of  all  the  islands  combined,  makes 
it  impossible  to  believe  that  in  the  days  of  Esarhaddon  the 
entire  city  of  Sidon,  which  at  that  time  was  an  important  com- 
mercial centre  and  had  been  such  for  centuries,  was  located 
upon  these  islands.  There  was,  as  in  the  case  of  Tyre,  a  city 
upon  the  mainland.  How  far  inland  and  how  far  north  and 
south  this  city  extended  it  is  difficult  to  say,  and  cannot  be 
determined  until  further  excavations  throw  additional  light 
upon  the  early  history  of  the  city;  nevertheless,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  it  was  a  city  of  considerable  size  in  the  days  of 
Esarhaddon.  This  distinction  between  the  island  Sidon  and 
the  mainland  Sidon  is  suggested  in  the  inscription  of  Sennacherib 
quoted  below.5  Nothing  is  known  concerning  the  topography  of 
the  city  during  the  earlier  period.8 

1  Or  "fortress  of  Esarhaddon,"  Kar-Aiur-ahe-iddin-na;  below,  p.  53. 

3  Which  one  it  may  be  impossible  to  say ;  perhaps  the  rocky  island  facing  the 
northern  harbor.  If  at  one  time  the  rocky  peninsula  facing  the  southern 
harbor  was  an  island  it  also  may  have  contained  some  of  the  buildings. 

'  For  the  full  account  see  below,  p.  53. 

*  Remains  of  fortifications  are  seen  on  several  of  the  islands  bordering  the 
harbor  of  Sidon. 

•  See  below,  p.  51.     Cp.  also  Josh.  11  :  8;  19  :  28. 

'  But  see  chapters  II,  III,  and  Division  II,  chapter  I. 


10  THE   NAME   SIDON 

CHAPTER  II 

THE  NAME  SIDON 

The  city  whose  history  is  sketched  in  the  succeeding  chapters 
bears  in  the  Phoenician  inscriptions  the  name  pV;1  in  the  Old 
Testament,  with  the  vowel  letters,  flT^2  or  p'¥;3  in  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions,  including  the  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets, 
Si-du-un-nu*  or  Si-du-nu,5  or  Zi-du-naf  once,  in  a  letter 
addressed  by  the  Pharaoh  to  Aziru,  Zi-tu-na.1  The  Greek 
writers  reproduce  this  by  ZtdtAv,  the  Latin  by  Sidon  and  Sidonia. 
The  Arabic  name  of  the  modern  town  is  !  J^yo. 

According  to  the  mythological  notions  of  the  Phoenicians  as 
preserved  by  later  writers,  this  name  is  derived  from  the  proper 
nouns  Sidos  or  Side,  the  names  of  ancient  mythological  figures. 
Eustathius  declares8  that  Sidon  was  built  by  Belus9  and  named 
after  his  daughter  Side.  A  variation  of  this  myth  is  preserved 
by  several  Greek  writers.  They  displace  Side  by  Sidos,  the 
•son  of  iEgyptos,  who  is  said  to  have  built  Sidon  and  named  it 
after  Sidos.10  This  latter  explanation  resembles  somewhat  the 
Biblical  tradition,  "And  Canaan  begot  Sidon,  his  firstborn/'11 
which  connects  the  city  and  its  name  with  an  individual  named 
Sidon.12 

These  mythological  attempts  to  furnish  an  etymology  of  the 
city-name  Sidon  cannot  be  accepted  as  correct;  and  as  a  matter 

1  E.g.,  the  Inscription  of  Bod-A§tart,  11.  2,  3;  see  below,  p.  144. 

2  Jdg.  10  :  6;  2  S.  24  :  6,  etc.  8  Gen.  49  :  13;  1  Chr.  1  :  13. 
4  Taylor  Cyl.,  II,  35.                         6  B.  48,  I.  71.  B  B.  54,  I.  21. 

7  B.  92,  I.  12.  This  peculiar  spelling  is  due  undoubtedly  to  the  fact  that  the 
writer  was  not  a  Semite. 

8  Com.  on  Dionys.,  912,  913. 

•  Cp.  Virgil,  An.,  I,  619-622. 

10  Malala,  Chron.,  ed.  Dindorf,  p.  58;  Glycas,  Annal.,  ed.  Bekker,  p.  255;  Joel, 
Chronogr.  comp.,  ed.  Bekker,  p.  8. 

11  Gen.  10  :  15.  «  Cp.  Josephus,  Ant.,  I,  6,  2. 


POPULAR   ETYMOLOGIES  11 

of  fact,  from  very  early  times  it  has  become  customary  to  give 
an  entirely  different  explanation  of  the  word.  Justin  declares1 
that  Sidon  is  named  for  the  abundance  of  fish,  ' '  for  the  Phoeni- 
cians call  the  fish  sidon. ' '  Following  this  etymology,  the  name 
should  be  translated  "fish,"  or  perhaps  better,  "fishing"  or 
""fish-town."2  Since  the  days  of  Justin  this  explanation  has 
been  repeated  over  and  over  again,  until  very  few  think  it  worth 
while  to  inquire  whether  or  not  the  traditional  etymology  is 
correct,3  and  it  is  only  within  very  recent  times  that  doubts 
have  been  raised.4  In  discussing  the  question,  the  following 
noteworthy  facts  should  be  borne  in  mind:  (1)  The  earliest 
reference  to  this  etymology  is  in  the  writings  of  Justin,  i.e., 
not  earlier  than  the  first  century  A.D.,  and  perhaps  as  late  as 
the  fourth  century.  This  means  that  enough  time  had  elapsed 
since  the  founding  of  the  city  to  make  possible  the  substitution 
of  a  fanciful  interpretation  for  the  right  one,  which  had  been  for- 
gotten in  the  course  of  the  centuries.  (2)  There  is  an  inaccuracy 
in  Justin's  etymology.  His  words  are,  ' '  nam  piscem  Phcenices 
sidon  appellant, ' '  but  p¥  does  not  mean  fish  in  Phoenician.  Can 
the  testimony  of  a  writer  whose  knowledge  of  the  Phoenician 
language  was  so  limited  be  accepted  as  conclusive?  (3)  It  is 
a  well-known  fact  that  the  ancients  indulged  their  fancies  in 
supplying  etymologies  for  names  of  places  and  persons.5  (4) 
Many  ancient  Semitic  place  or  tribal  names  are  closely  con- 
nected with  names  of  deities.6 

But  the  question  of  correctness  or  incorrectness  once  raised, 
the  popular  etymology  is  seen  to  be  not  without  difficulties. 

1  Historice  Philippicce,  XVIII,  3;  cp.  also  Isidorus  Hispaniensis,  Etymologic, 
XV,  I,  28.  2  Cp.  Beth-saida,  Matt.  11  :  21 ;  Mk.  6  :  45,  etc. 

8  Movers  accepts  the  above  given  etymology,  but,  it  would  seem,  with  some 
misgivings;  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1,  p.  86,  n.  8. 

4  Winckler,  AUorientalische  Forschungen,  I,  p.  436 ;  Ed.  Meyer,  in  Encyc.  Bibl., 
art.  Sidon;  Clermont-Ganneau,  Recueil  d'archeologie  orientale,  I,  p.  190. 

5  One  need  but  mention  a  few  illustrations  from  the  Old  Testament,  e.g., 
Babel,  Gen.  11:9;  Jacob,  Gen.  25  :  26 ;  etc.  Cp.  Gunkel,  The  Legends  of  Genesis, 
p.  27. 

8  Cp.  Asur,  Gad,  Edom,  etc. 


12  THE   NAME   SIDON 

(1)  The  root  11¥,  to  which  p¥,  if  interpreted  "fishing"  or 
' '  fish-town, ' '  must  be  traced,  means  in  Hebrew  to  hunt  animals: 
or  birds,  and  in  this  sense  it  is  used  literally  and  figuratively; 
nowhere  in  the  Old  Testament  is  it  used  with  the  meaning  to 
fish.  The  same  is  true  in  Assyrian.1  Only  in  Aramaic  has  the 
root  the  meaning  to  fish.  This  being  the  case,  the  history  of  the 
Semitic  languages  would  favor  the  conclusion  that  the  Hebrew 
and  the  Assyrian  have  preserved  the  original  meaning  of  the 
root,  and  that  the  Aramaic  marks  a  later  development.  If  sor 
it  is  only  natural  to  assume  that  in  early  Phoenician  also  the 
root  had  the  meaning  to  hunt.  If  this  assumption  is  correct, 
as  it  seems  to  be,  p¥  cannot  be  derived  from  T)¥  with 
the  meaning  ' '  fish "  or  "  fishing ' '  or  "  fish-town. "  At  a  later 
time,  when  Aramaic  had  taken  the  place  of  Hebrew  as  the 
language  of  the  people,  and  was  therefore  known  more  widely, 
it  was  quite  easy  to  connect  the  name  of  a  city  whose  inhabitants 
were  fishermen  with  the  verb  "Il¥,  meaning  at  that  time  to 
fish,  and  thus  supply  an  etymology  unwarranted  by  usage  at  an 
earlier  period.  (2)  To  this  objection  Winckler  adds  another/ 
If  the  popular  etymology  is  correct,  the  city  should  have  a  name 
that  might  be  interpreted  like  Beth-saida,  "house  of  fishing"  or 
' '  place  of  fishing ' ' ;  but  to  express  this  idea  the  Semitic  languages 
prefer  a  different  formation.  We  would  expect  a  word  with  the 
prefix  D,  T¥D,  or  something  similar,  but  not  a  noun  ending  in  \\s 
These  considerations  cast  enough  doubt  on  the  commonly 
received  interpretation  to  raise  the  question,  whether  or  not  a 
more  satisfactory  etymology  can  be  found.  To  the  present 
writer  it  seems  that  this  question  must  be  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive, and  that  the  right  solution  is  offered  by  the  Phoenician 
religion.    There  was  in  the  Phoenician  pantheon  a  deity  "TV, 

1  Delitzsch,  Ass.  Handworterbuch,  "P¥;  in  Arabic  the  verb  is  used  in  some  of 
the  stems  with  the  meaning  to  fish;  but  the  primary  meaning  in  that  language 
also  is  to  hunt;  Wahrmund,  Handworterbuch,  under  root  Juyd. 

'  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  I,  p.  437. 

3Cp.  Gesenius-Kautzsch,  Hebrew  Grammar,  translated  by  Collins  and 
Cowley,  86b. 


SIDON   THE   CITY  OF   SID  13 

Though  we  have  no  means  of  determining  the  proper  pronun- 
ciation of  this  name,  there  is  nothing  to  make  it  improbable  that 
it  was  pronounced  "TV  or  ""!¥•  True,  there  are  no  traces  of 
the  worship  of  this  deity  in  Sidon,  but  it  occurs  as  an  element 
in  Phoenician  proper  names  in  the  place  where  one  would  expect 
the  name  of  a  deity,1  and  it  is  found  in  the  combinations 
JTIp'WlV2  and  DJmV,3  where  again  it  can  be  explained 
only  as  a  divine  name;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  "IV 
denotes  a  deity  worshiped  independently  at  one  time  by  the 
Phoenicians. 

But  how  can  this  god  be  connected  with  pV  ?  Nowhere,  appa- 
rently, does  he  appear  as  a  deity  of  prominence.  The  chief 
deities  of  Sidon  were  HID^  and  JO^N.4  The  former  is  a 
deity  found  in  some  form  in  all  Semitic  religions,5  the  latter 
is  peculiar  to  the  Phoenicians,  though  he  also  may  have  his 
counterpart  in  the  Babylonian-Assyrian  pantheon.8  "IV  is 
found  nowhere  outside  of  Phoenicia  and  the  Phoenician  "col- 
onies," and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  in  origin  he  is  a 
Semitic  deity.  This  being  so,  may  we  not  assume  that  he,  and 
perhaps  other  deities  whose  names  may  yet  be  discovered,  is 
an  inheritance  from  the  pre-Phoenician  inhabitants  of  the 
Mediterranean  coast?7  There  are  in  the  Sidonian  pantheon 
deities  adopted  from  Babylonia-Assyria,  from  Egypt,  from 
Greece;8  is  there  anything  more  natural  than  that  we  should 
find  also  some  who  were  taken  over  from  the  predecessors  of 
the  Phoenicians  along  the  Mediterranean  coast? 

On  the  site  of  the  later  Phoenician  city  of  Sidon,  or  perhaps, 
more  accurately,  upon  an  island  facing  the  promontory  on 
which  the  present  town  is  situated,  the  Phoenicians  may  have 
found  on  their  arrival  a  sanctuary  dedicated  to  IV,  and  a  set- 
tlement whose  tutelary  deity  was  "IV,  and  which  was  named 
in  honor  of  its  deity  j(l)*lV — belonging  to  "TV  =  city  of  IV.9    It 

1  C.  I.  S.,  1, 102a,  292.  2  C.  I.  S.,  I,  256.  3  C.  I.  S.,  I,  247-249. 

*  See  below,  p.  126.  5  See  below,  p.  127 .  •  See  below,  p.  126. 

7  See  below,  p.  30.  8  See  below,  p.  126. 

9  Gesenius-Kautzsch,  Hebrew  Grammar,  86g. 


14  THE   NAME   SIDON 

is  not  improbable  that  there  had  grown  up  also  on  the  opposite 
shore  a  village  or  town  which,  even  in  that  early  period,  bore 
the  same  name.1 

That  "!X  is  mentioned  so  few  times  may  be  due  either  to  the 
fact  that  comparatively  few  inscriptions  have  been  found,  or,, 
as  seems  more  probable,  to  the  fact  that  in  time  the  non-Semitic 
deity  was  swallowed  up  by  one  or,  as  different  sections  preferred 
different  deities,  by  several  Semitic  deities  brought  into  the 
land  by  the  Phoenicians.2  At  any  rate,  at  a  later  time  the 
connection  of  p¥  with  "l¥  was  forgotten,  and  popular 
fancy  was  appealed  to  to  supply  a  suitable  etymology.  It  is 
this  etymology  that  is  found  in  the  traditions  mentioned.  This 
etymology  also  may  be  responsible  for  the  introduction  of 
between  the  first  two  radicals  in  the  Hebrew  form  of  the  name. 
From  this  fuller  form  with  *  is  derived  the  Arabic  name  of  the 
modern  town  !Joyo,  as  well  as  the  name  given  to  the 
city  by  the  Occidental  pilgrims  and  writers  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
Sageta,  or  Sagitta,  or  Sajetta,  or  Sajette,  etc.  There  is  undoubt- 
edly some  connection  also  between  the  name  Sagitta  and  the 
Latin  sagitta  =  arrow.  The  latter  appears  to  have  been  the 
emblem  of  Sidon  during  the  Crusades,  for  the  coins  of  the 
Crusaders  struck  in  Sidon  bear  the  representation  of  this 
emblematic  arrow.3 

The  use  of  the  name  p¥  and  the  gentilic  name  \3"T¥,  pL 
UYV£,  is  not  confined  to  the  city  or  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city.  In  a  wider  sense  they  are  applied  frequently  to  large 
portions  of  Phoenicia,  and  sometimes  to  the  whole  of  Phoenicia 
and  its  inhabitants.4 

A  comparison  of  p¥= /Sidon  with  ")V=77yre  raises  the 
interesting  question  why  in  the  one  case  the  emphatic  sibilant  has 
been  retained,  while  in  the  other  it  has  been  transformed  into  a 
dental.     The  change  must  have  been  introduced  by  the  Greeks,. 

1  See  further  the  next  chapter. 

1  The  transfer  of  the  supremacy  in  the  Babylonian  pantheon  to  Marduk  is 
similar  in  principle. 

3  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  Ill,  p.  131.  '  See  further  next  chapter 


SIDON   AND  TYRE  15 

from  whom  it  passed  to  the  Latin  writers  of  the  classical  period; 
the  old  Latin  has  preserved  the  S  in  the  noun  Sarra  (Tyre),  and 
in  the  adjective  sarranus.  The  reason  for  this  may  have  been  that 
the  Sidonians  came  frequently  into  contact  with  the  Greeks,1  so 
that  the  latter  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  former  the  proper 
pronunciation  of  the  name  Sidon.  The  same  may  not  have 
been  true  of  Tyre,  which  is  first  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  and 
it  is  not  impossible  that  he  became  familiar  with  the  name  in 
Egypt;  at  any  rate,  the  Greek  T6p<>$  corresponds  to  the  Egyp- 
tian reproduction  of  *1¥,  so  that  the  perverted  form  of  the 
name  may  have  come  into  Greece  by  way  of  Egypt.2 

1  See  below,  p.  64. 

2  Krall,  Tyros  und  Sidon,  in  Sitzungsberichte  der  philosophischen-historischen 
Klasse  der  kaiserlichen  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften,  Wien,  Vol.  116, 
pp.  692-694.  The  Arabic  historian  Yakut,  c.  1225,  has  left  a  note  that 
by  some  the  city  was  called  Irbil  (I,  189).  The  origin  of  this  designation 
is  unknown,  but  the  name  may  be  compared  with  the  Assyrian  Arba-ilu,  the 
name  of  one  of  the  cities  in  which  Istar  was  worshiped.  As  AStart  corre- 
sponds to  Istar,  so  Irbil,  the  city  of  Astart,  would  correspond  to  Arba-ilu,  the 
city  of  Istar.  With  this  may  be  compared  px  =  ]1'N  in  Am.  1  : 5,  which  may 
be  the  same  as  the  name  of  the  Egyptian  city  }iN  in  Gen.  41  :  45,  50; 
46  :  20;  see  Eiselen,  Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets,  New  York,  1907,  on 
Am.  1  : 5. 


16  IS   SIDON   OLDER  THAN   TYRE  ? 

CHAPTER  III 

IS   SIDON   OLDER   THAN  TYRE? 

It  has  been  customary  to  look  upon  Sidon  as  the  oldest  city 
of  Phoenicia,1  or  at  least  of  the  southern  portion  of  Phoenicia.2 
The  statements  of  Strabo3  and  others,  that  Tyre  is  the  oldest  city 
of  the  Phoenicians,  and  of  Herodotus,4  placing  the  founding  of 
Tyre  at  about  2750  B.C.,  have  been  harmonized  with  this  view 
by  assuming  that  these  traditions  refer,  not  to  the  founding  of 
the  city,  but  to  the  fiist  appearance  of  men  upon  the  site  of  the 
later  Tyre.  Support  for  this  explanation  has  been  found  in  the 
statements  of  Josephus,5  that  Tyre  was  built  240  years  before 
the  building  of  the  Temple,  and  of  Justin,6  that  Tyre  was  founded 
by  the  Sidonians,  which  have  been  interpreted  of  a  second 
' '  founding, ' '  thought  to  mark  the  origin  of  Tyre  as  a  city.7  ' '  The 
first  settlement  upon  the  island  Tyre,"  says  Movers,  "was, 
according  to  a  definite  statement,8  a  depot  for  merchandise,  and 
therefore  had  a  purpose  and  character  entirely  different  from 
that  of  the  settlement  made  by  the  Sidonians  in  connection 
with  the  Philistian  War.  Mythology  also  knows  Tyre  at  first 
as  a  sanctuary  and  only  later  as  a  city,  and  distinguishes  thus 
a  twofold  founding.  According  to  Herodotus  also,  the  Tyrian 
priests  ....  date  the  interval  of  2300  years  not  from  the 
building  of  the  city,  but  from  the  time  when  the  island  was 
first  inhabited."9 

1  Rawlinson,  The  Story  of  Phoenicia,  p.  46. 

2  Movers,  Die  Phbnizier,  II,  1,  p.  257. 

3  XVI,  2, 22 ;  cp.  Dionysius,  Orbis  descriptio,  91 1 ;  Virgil, Mn.,  IV,  670 ;  Curtius, 
Historia  Alexandri  Magni,  IV,  4,  19.  4  Historia,  II,  44. 

5  Ant.,  VIII,  3,  1.  6  Historiae  Philippicae,  XVIII,  3. 

7  Movers,  II,  1,  pp.  118ff.,  166ff. 

8  Pomponius  Sabinus,  ad.  Mn.,  I,  12.     "Phcenices  condiderunt  Tyrum  in 
mari  propter  merces,  primi  mortalium  negotiatores  in  marina  alea. 

» IT,  1,  p.  169. 


SIDON   THE   OLDEST  CITY  OF   PHOENICIA  17 

This  quotation  from  Movers  expresses  accurately  the  view 
held  until  quite  recently  by  practically  all  historians,  that  the 
city  of  Sidon  is  older  than  the  city  of  Tyre;  indeed,  that  it  is 
the  oldest  city  in  southern  Phoenicia.  The  arguments  in  favor 
of  this  view  are  chiefly  twofold:  1.  The  mention  in  the  Old 
Testament  of  Sidon  as  the  firstborn  of  Canaan.1  2.  The  peculiar 
usage  of  the  terms  Sidon  and  Sidonians  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  in  Greek  writings.  To  these  may  be  added,  though  of 
secondary  importance:  3.  The  statements  of  Justin  and 
Josephus,  already  alluded  to,  and  4.  The  contention  found  on 
Sidonian  coins  that  Sidon  is  the  metropolis  (literally,  the  mother) 
of  Tyre.2 

The  mention  of  Sidon  as  the  firstborn  of  Canaan  may  be  con- 
sidered first.  As  long  as  Gen.  1-11  could  be  regarded  as  his- 
torically and  scientifically  accurate  documents,  as  long  as  it  was 
thought  that  Gen.  10  gave  a  truly  scientific  view  of  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  human  race,  written  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C.,3 
the  statement  in  Gen.  10  :  15  could  be  considered  as  conclusive. 
But  the  modern  view,  which  considers  the  chapter  the  product  of 
a  much  later  age,  reflecting  the  geographical  relation  of  the 
nations  around  the  Mediterranean  at  the  time  of  its  writing, 
robs  the  statement  of  much  of  its  value  for  the  earlier  period. 
All  that  can  be  inferred  from  the  statement  is  that  in  the  days 
of  the  author  the  city  or  state  of  Sidon4  occupied,  in  the  thought 
of  the  author,  a  more  prominent  position  than  any  of  the  other 
sons  of  Canaan  named  in  vv.  15-20;  but  this  falls  far  short  of 
establishing  the  claim  that  the  city  Sidon  was  the  oldest  city  in 
Phoenicia. 

The  second  argument  rests  upon  the  usage  of  the  terms  Sidon 
and  Sidonians.  Here  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  individual 
cases  it  is  not  always  easy  to  determine  the  exact  force  of  the 

1  Gen.  10  :  15;  cp.  Josephus,  Ant.,  I,  6,  2. 

2  Gesenius,  Monumenta,  p.  264ff. ;  Schroder,  Die  phon.  Sprache,  p.  275; 
Muller,  Vier  sidonische  Milnzen,  in  Sitzungs-Berichte  der  Wiener  Akademie  der 
Wissenschaften,  XXXV,  pp.  33-50. 

3  Movers,  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1,  p.  89;  cp.  p.  257.  *  See  below. 


18  IS  SIDON   OLDER  THAN   TYRE? 

two  terms.  However,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  words 
are  used  both  in  a  narrow  sense,  of  the  city  itself  and  its  inhabi- 
tants, and  in  a  wider  sense,  including  other  portions  of  Phoenicia 
and  their  inhabitants.  This  usage  of  the  names  in  the  wider 
sense,  it  is  pointed  out,  is  very  early,1  and  therefore  indicates  the 
presence  in  remote  antiquity  of  an  historical  situation  in  which 
Sidon  was  powerful  enough  to  impose  her  rule  and  her  name 
upon  large  districts  outside  of  the  city.  Now,  since  in  some 
cases  the  terms  seem  to  include  Tyre  and  the  Tyrians,  and  since 
the  city  of  Tyre  is  not  mentioned  until  a  much  later  period,2 
the  usage  clearly  shows  that  the  superiority  in  the  beginning 
was  with  Sidon.  The  case  becomes  even  stronger,  the  argument 
continues,  and  the  greater  antiquity  of  Sidon  is  placed  beyond 
doubt  when  it  is  seen  that  the  term  Sidonian  is  practically 
equivalent  to  Phoenician. 

In  the  Old  Testament  the  terms  Sidon  and  Sidonians  occur  in 
thirty-eight  passages.3  Of  these  only  few  refer  to  the  city,4 
and  of  these  probably  not  one  is  older  than  the  seventh  century 
B.C.,  when  the  city  did  occupy  a  prominent  place;  but  testi- 
mony concerning  the  condition  of  the  city  in  the  seventh  century 
and  later  is  of  little  or  of  no  value  for  a  period  a  thousand  years  or 
more  earlier.  Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  not  until  the  time  of 
the  Chronicler5  did  the  term  Sidonian  come  to  be  restricted  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city;  before  that  time  it  was  equivalent 
to  Phoenician.6  To  denote  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  the 
phrase  p¥  *3SW  was  used.7 

1  Again  Biblical  passages  assumed  to  be  very  early  form  the  principal  argu- 
ment. 3  The  earliest  passage,  according  to  this  view,  is  2  S.  5  :  11. 

3  Gen.  10  :  15, 19;  49  :13;Dt.  3  :  9;  Josh.  11  :8;13  :4,6;19  :28;Jdg.  1  :  31; 
3:3;  10  :  6,  12;  18  :7  (twice);  18  :28;  2  S.  24  :  6;  1  K.  5  :  20;  11  :  1,5,  33; 
16  :31;  17  :9;2K.  23  :  13;  Is.  23  :  2,  4, 12;  Jer.  25  :  22;  27  :  3;  47  :  4;  Ez.  27  : 
8;  28  :21,22;  32  :  30;  Joel  4  :4;Zech.9  :  2;  1  Chr.  1  :  13;  22  :  4;  Ezra  3  :  7. 

4  Josh.  11  :8;19  :28;Jdg.  1  :  31;  Is.  23  :  2,  4,  12;  Jer.  25  :22;27  :3;47  :4; 
Ez.27  :8;28  :  21,  22;  32  :  30;  Joel  4  :4;Zech.9  :  2;  1  Chr.  22  :  4;  Ezra  3  :  7. 

»1  Chr.  22  :  4;  Ezra  3  :  7. 

•Jdg.  10  :  12;  18  :7;  1  K.  11  :  1,5,  33;  16  :31;2  K.  23  :  13;  Ez.  32,  30,  cp. 
also  C.  I.  S.,  I,  5. 
7  Jdg.  1,  31;  Ez.  27  : 8.     On  the  whole,  the  references  in   the  historical 


SIDON   AND   SIDONIAN  19 

Homer  is  another  writer  who  uses  the  words  very  frequently, 
if  not  exclusively,  with  the  wider  meaning.  In  II.  VI,  290, 
"Sidonian  women"  is  undoubtedly  equivalent  to  Phoenician 
women;1  in  11.  XXIII,  743,  744,  Sidonian  and  Phoenician  occur 
in  parallel  lines,  and  are  to  be  understood  as  synonyms.  Od., 
IV,  617,  618,  mention  Phsedimus,  king  of  the  Sidonians.2  On 
first  sight  Od.,  XIII,  285,  appears  to  refer  to  the  city,  but  an 
ancient  scholion  on  this  passage  reads  Ztdovt-rjv,  r^  t?;?  ZiS&vos 
xupav,  ttjv  <Povw7]<y)3  compare  also  XIII,  272,  "the  proud 
Phoenicians. ' '  In  XIV,  288ff.  he  uses  the  terms  Phoenician  and 
Phoenicia;  so  also  XV,  415ff.;  the  Phoenician  woman  of  I.  417  is 
in  424  said  to  be  of  Sidon.  IV,  83  mentions  Phoenicia;  I.  84 
the  Sidonians,  not  as  a  distinct  people,  but  as  the  inhabitants 
of  the  former.  In  every  passage  in  Homer  Siclon  or  Sidonian 
may  be  interpreted  in  the  wider  sense. 

books  of  the  Old  Testament  throw  very  little  light  on  the  history  of  the 
city  of  Sidon.  According  to  Gen.  10  :  19,  Sidon  (  =  Phoenicia)  marked  the 
northern  boundary  of  Canaan;  according  to  49  :  3  the  boundary  of  Zebulon. 
Deut.  3  :  9  contains  an  allusion  to  the  dialect  of  the  Sidonians  (= Phoenicians). 
Josh.  11  :  8  mentions  "great  Sidon"  as  the  place  to  which  Joshua  chased  the 
Canaanites.  In  19  :  28  "  great  Sidon ' '  is  named  again,  this  time  as  the  bound- 
ary of  Asher.  In  13  :  4  occurs  the  expression  "Mearah,  that  is  beside  the 
Sidonians."  Though  the  Giblites  are  named  in  the  same  passage,  Sidonians 
seems  to  be  used  in  the  wider  sense.  In  13  :  6  Yahweh  promises  to  drive  out 
the  Sidonians  (=  Phoenicians).  Jdg.  1  :  31  states  that  Asher  did  not  drive  out 
the  inhabitants  of  Sidon.  Here  the  reference  is  possibly  to  the  city.  Not 
so  in  3  :  3 ;  the  Sidonians  ( =  Phoenicians)  were  left  to  prove  the  Israelites,  and 
to  teach  them  war.  In  all  the  other  passages  in  the  Book  of  Judges  the  refer- 
ence is  to  Phoenicians ;  10:6,  the  children  of  Israel  served  the  gods  of 
Sidon;  10  :  12,  the  Sidonians  oppressed  Israel;  18  :  17,  the  people  of  Laish 
dwelt  carelessly  after  the  manner  of  the  Sidonians  ....  they  were  far  from 
the  Sidonians ;  18  :  28,  Laish  was  far  from  Sidon.  In  2  S.  24  :  6  the  reference 
may  be  to  the  city.  The  numbering  of  the  people  was  made  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Sidon.     The  author  of  Kings  uses  the  terms  in  the  wider  sense.     In 

1  K.  11  :  1,  "women  of  the  Sidonians"  is  equivalent  to  "Phoenician  women" ; 
11  :  5  calls  Ashtoreth  the  goddess  of  the  Sidonians  (=  Phoenicians);  cp.  v.  33; 

2  K.  23  :  13.  1  K.  17  :  9  mentions  Zarephath  as  a  city  belonging  to  Sidon 
(= Phoenicia).  Other  passages  in  the  historical  books  are  considered 
below,  p.  42. 

'Cp.  IK.  11:1.  2Cp.  Od.,XV.  117. 

3  Quoted  by  Movers,  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1,  p.  94. 


20  IS   SIDON   OLDER  THAN   TYRE? 

The  same  usage  is  found  in  later  Greek  and  Latin  writers. 
The  Septuagint  reproduces  J1TV  in  Is.  23  :  2,  by  Qowixi),  DWVin 
Dt.  3  :  9  by  tfWwxe?;  Pliny  calls  the  Mediterranean  Phcenicium 
Mare,1  Dionysius2  and  Eustathius,3  Ztdovia  6al*a<ta.  On  the 
same  principle  must  be  explained  the  interchange  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon;  Tyre  is  the  city,  Sidon  is  equivalent  to  Phoenicia,  the  land. 
Cadmus,  for  example,  is  frequently  called  a  Tyrian,4  at  other  times 
a  Sidonian;5  purple  is  called,  now  Tyrian,8  now  Sidonian.7  Here 
must  be  reckoned  also  Tyria  vestis*  and  Sidonia  vestis;*  Tyria 
chlamys10  and  Sidonia  chlamys;11  Tyria  palla12  and  Sidonia  palla.ls 

In  the  presence  of  this  testimony  there  is  no  room  for  doubting 
that  Sidon  and  Sidonian  are  very  comprehensive  terms,  includ- 
ing at  times  Tyre,14  at  other  times  the  whole  of  Phoenicia.15 
Does  it  demonstrate  also  that  Sidon  is  the  oldest  city  of  the 
Phoenicians,  more  prominent  politically  than  Tyre  during  the 
second  millennium  B.C.,  and  that  this  political  supremacy 
explains  the  wider  use  of  the  term? 

Let  it  be  admitted  immediately  that,  in  the  absense  of  contra- 
dictory evidence,  this  would  be  a  possible  explanation  of  the 
twofold  use  of  the  terms.  However,  there  are  certain  historical 
considerations,  and  the  statements  of  a  few  Greek  writers,  which 
seem  to  point  in  a  different  direction.  Unfortunately,  thus  far 
no  Phoenician  documents  antedating  the  Tel-el-Amarna  period 
have  been  brought  to  light;  therefore  we  are  dependent  upon 

1  Historia  naturalis,  IX,  12.  2  Orbis  descriptio,  I.  117. 

3  Com.  on  Dion.,  I.  117. 

4  Euripides,  Phcenissae,  647,  48;  Statius,  Theb.,  VII,  889.  Ovid,  Met.,  II, 
844,  45;  III,  35,  36,  539.     Fasti,  I,  489,  90;  V,  605,  6. 

"Euripides,  Bacch.,  1025;  Ovid,  Met.,  Ill,  129;  Ex  Ponto,  I,  377;  Seneca, 
(Edip.,  710,  711 ;  cp.  also  Virgil,  Mn.,  I,  446,  613;  Statius,  Silvae,  IV,  2,  1. 
8  Mn.,  IV,  262;  Horatius,  Epod.,  XII,  21 ;  Tibullus,  II,  El.,  4,  28. 

7  Tibullus,  III,  EL,  3,  18 ;  Apollinaris  Sidonius,  Carm.,  XV,  128. 

8  Tibullus,  I,  El,  7,  47.  9  Propertius,  II,  13,  55  (edit.  Burm.). 
10  Ovid,  Met.,  V,  51.  n  Virgil,  Mn.,  IV,  137. 
a  Tibullus,  IV,  Carm.,  2,  11.  13  Propertius,  IV,  9,  47. 
14  Cp.  also  Nonnus,  Dionysiaca,  XLI,  40. 

"Suidas,  Lexicon,  s.v.    Ztddviog,  4>oZwf;    Hesychius,    Lexicon,  s.v.  'Li66viol! 


TESTIMONY   OF   ANTIQUITY  21 

the  contemporaneous  records  of  foreign  nations  for  reliable  in- 
formation concerning  early  events. 

The  early  Egyptian  records  mentioning  Tyre  and  Sidon  by 
name  are  very  few,  but  what  weight  they  do  have  they  cast  in 
the  balance  against  the  greater  antiquity  of  Sidon  and  its  early 
political  preeminence  over  Tyre.  This  is  admitted  even  by 
Meltzer,  who  still  adheres  to  the  common  view.  ''It  must  be 
noted,"  says  he,1  "that  the  Egyptian  sources,  so  far  as  they 
are  known  to  us,  have  yielded  up  to  the  present  no  support 
whatever  for  the  theory  indicated.2  If  one  would  draw  inferences 
from  their  remarks  concerning  political  preeminence,  he  must 
conclude  that  Arados  occupied  first  place;  then  perhaps  Tyre. 
Byblos  is  not  even  mentioned  by  name.  Sidon  is  also  mentioned 
only  occasionally,  and  then  without  reference  to  the  political 
situation. ' ' 

The  first  mention  of  Sidon  appears  in  Papyrus  Anastasi  I,  of 
the  thirteenth  century  B.C.,  which  describes  the  voyage  of  an 
Egyptian  into  Syria,  Phoenicia  and  Palestine.  In  this  narrative 
Sidon  is  cited  incidentally  along  with  several  other  cities 
which,  it  would  seem,  the  writer  considered  of  little  interest  to 
the  reader.  More  attention  is  given  to  Tyre,  of  which  he  says 
that  it  is  a  "city  in  the  sea,  harbor-Tyre  is  her  name.  Water 
is  brought  to  her  in  ships.  She  has  greater  abundance  of  fish 
than  of  sand. '  '3  Some  think  that  these  words  imply  the  exist- 
ence of  both  the  mainland  Tyre  and  the  island  Tyre.4  There 
are  two  other  early  records  mentioning  Tyre,  while  Sidon  does 
not  occur  again.  Seti  I  (1313-1292)  names  Tyre  among  his 
conquests,  and  on  the  reverse  side  of  Papyrus  Anastasi  HI, 
dated  in  the  third  year  of  Merneptah,  mention  is  made  of  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  king  of  Tyre.  The  names  of  the  Phoeni- 
cian cities  in  the  north  are  found  more  frequently;  hence  Krall 

1  Geschichte  der  Karthager,  I,  p.  20. 

2  The  theory  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter. 

3  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  185. 

4  So.  Krall,  Tyros  und  Sidon,  p.  637.  It  is  questioned  by  Jeremias,  Tijrus 
bis  zur  Zeit  Nebukadnezars,  p.  13. 


22  IS  SIDON   OLDER  THAN   TYRE? 

seems  justified  in  saying:  "Judging  from  the  Egyptian  inscrip- 
tions, the  most  important  Phoenician  cities  of  this  period — of  the 
Thutmosites — are  the  north-Phoenician  cities  Byblos  and  Arados. 
The  existence  of  Tyre  cannot  be  established  with  certainty  from 
the  inscriptions  belonging  to  the  period  of  the  Thutmosites.  On 
the  other  hand,  under  the  Ramessides,  and  that  as  early  as  Seti 
I,  it  stands  out  prominently;  in  the  time  of  Merneptah  is  men- 
tioned a  king  of  Tyre  whose  territory  was  hardly  limited  to  the 
city  of  Tyre  itself.  As  early  as  the  time  of  the  Ramessides 
existed  the  so-called  island  Tyrus  by  the  side  of  Palsetyrus.  As 
compared  with  Tyre,  the  other  Phoenician  cities  occupy  a  second- 
ary position.  Finally,  the  city  of  Sidon  plays  no  role  whatever 
in  the  Egyptian  inscriptions.  Only  once — if  the  middle  group 
is  rightly  restored1 — is  she  named  in  the  Papyrus  Anastasi  I, 
of  the  period  of  the  Ramessides.  Of  a  powerful  position  of 
Sidon,  even  in  the  period  of  the  Ramessides,  it  is  not  possible  to 
speak  on  the  basis  of  the  results  obtained  thus  far.  It  must 
belong  after  1200  B.C.;  how  much  later  other  sources  must 
teach  us. '  '2 

In  the  same  direction  points  the  testimony  of  the  Tel-el- 
Amarna  tablets.  The  collection  contains  two  letters  written  by 
Zimrida,  king  of  Sidon.3  In  several  other  letters — seven  written 
by  Rib-addi,  king  of  Gebal,4  seven  by  Abi-milki,  of  Tyre,5  one 
by  Abd-asirta,  the  governor  of  the  land  of  the  Amorites,6  and 
one  by  the  Pharaoh,  addressed  to  Aziru,  the  son  of  Abd-asirta7 — 
Sidon  is  accused  of  treachery  against  Egypt  and  her  loyal  vassals. 
In  these  letters  also,  reflecting  conditions  about  the  year  1400  B.C., 
there  is  not  the  slightest  indication  of  the  political  superiority  of 

1  Of  the  sign  group  denoting  the  city. 

2  Tyrus  und  Sidon,  pp.  641,  642.  This  conclusion  of  Krall  is  accepted  also 
by  Jeremias,  pp.  16,  17. 

3  B.  90  and  B.  182.  In  the  references  to  the  Tel-el-Amarna  correspondence 
B.  stands  for  Berlin,  L.  for  London.  The  former  denotes  the  letters  in  the 
Royal  Museum  in  Berlin,  the  latter  those  in  the  British  Museum.  The  num- 
bers are  those  given  by  Winckler,  in  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  Vol.  V, 
passim.  *  B.  43,  48,  50,  54,  77.     L.  13,  14. 

8  L.  28,  29,  30,  31 ;  B.  99,  162,  231.  9  L.  44.  7  B.  92. 


TESTIMONY  OF   ANTIQUITY  23 

Sidon;  on  the  contrary,  Tyre  seems  to  occupy  the  more  promi- 
nent position.  To  this  contemporaneous  evidence  may  be 
added  the  testimony  of  later  writers.  The  author  of  Isaiah  23 
calls  Tyre  a  city  "whose  antiquity  is  of  ancient  days";1  Herod- 
otus places  the  founding  of  Tyre  at  c.  2750  B.C.,2  which  is  a 
date  much  earlier  than  can  be  established  for  Sidon;  Strabo3 
calls  Tyre  the  most  ancient  city  of  the  Phoenicians;  Eunapius, 
the  first  city  of  the  ancient  Phoenicians;4  similarly  Virgil,5 
Curtius,6  and  Orosius.7  The  legends  and  myths  of  Phoenicia 
favor  the  same  conclusion.  This  is  admitted  even  by  Movers, 
for  he  says :  "  In  the  Phoenician  legends  concerning  the  earliest 
times  nothing  is  said  of  Sidon.  The  mythical  history  of  San- 
chuniathon,  which  records  the  founding  of  the  oldest  cities 
during  the  second  mythological  era,  does  not  know  Sidon  in 
that  period;  only  Byblos,  Beyrut,  and  Tyre  appear  as  the  seat 
of  the  most  ancient  culture;  and  while  to  these  cities  were 
attached  local  myths  in  great  numbers — a  sure  sign  of  the  very 
high  antiquity  of  these  cities — Sidon  seems  to  have  been  sur- 
prisingly poor  in  myths."8  Tradition  credits  Tyre  with  the 
invention  of  ships,9  of  purple,10  and  with  the  earliest  cultivation 
of  vine  and  wheat.11 

In  view  of  this  great  mass  of  evidence  it  seems  necessary  to 
find  an  explanation  of  the  peculiar  usage  of  Sidon  and  Sidonian 
which  is  in  accord  with  the  practically  unanimous  opinion  of 
antiquity  that  Tyre  was  a  city  of  prominence  before  Sidon.  At 
any  rate,  the  usage  of  the  terms  cannot  be  considered  a  con- 
clusive argument  in  favor  of  the  earlier  supremacy  and  greater 
antiquity  of  Sidon.12 

The  third  argument  rests  upon  the  statements  of  Justin  and 

I  v.  7.  2  Historia,  II,  44.  3  Geographica,  XVI,  2,  22. 
4  Vita  Porphyrii,  opening  sentence.  5  Mn.,  IV,  670. 
6  Historia  Alexandri  Magni,  IV,  4,  19.                                  7  Historia,  III,  16. 

8  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1,  p.  254. 

9  Nonnus,  Dionysiaca,  XL,  501ff.     Tibullus,  I,  EL,  7,  20. 

10  Eustathius,  Com.  ad.  Dionysium,  911.     Malala,  p.  32  (ed.  Dindorf). 

II  Achilles  Tatius,  II,  2 ;  William  of  Tyre,  Historia  rerum  in  partibus  trans- 
marinis  gestarum,  XIII,  1.  n  See  further,  p.  30ff. 


24  IS   SIDON   OLDER   THAN   TYRE  ? 

Josephus.  The  latter  asserts,  on  what  authority  is  not  known, 
that  Tyre  was  founded  240  years  before  the  building  of  the 
Temple;1  the  former  has  preserved  a  tradition  that  the  Sidonians 
founded  the  island  Tyre  one  year  before  the  destruction  of 
Troy,  after  they  had  suffered  a  serious  defeat  at  the  hands  of 
the  king  of  Ascalon.2  When  the  chronological  notes  of  the  two 
authors  are  compared,  it  is  found  that  they  point  to  the  same 
general  period,  a  fact  which  would  seem  to  add  weight  to  the  tra- 
ditions. According  to  Josephus,  143  years  and  8  months  elapsed 
between  the  building  of  the  Temple  and  the  founding  of  Car- 
thage.3 If  the  latter  is  placed,  as  is  commonly  done,  about  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century  B.C.,4  the  alleged  date  of  the  found- 
ing of  Tyre  would  be  near  the  traditional  date  of  the  capture  of 
Troy. 

That  these  traditions  embody  memories  of  actual  historical 
events  affecting  the  fortunes  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  cannot  be 
doubted;  on  the  other  hand,  the  evidence  presented  in  reply  to 
the  second  argument  makes  it  equally  certain  that  Tyre  was  a 
city  of  prominence  long  before  1200  B.C.,  and,  perhaps,  that  both 
the  island  and  the  mainland  Tyre  were  in  existence  at  that  time. 
Consequently  the  traditions  cannot  be  interpreted  as  implying 
a  founding  of  Tyre,  in  any  sense  of  that  term.  The  historical 
fact  underlying  the  tradition  is  the  migration,  at  some  period 
of  Phoenician  history,  of  a  considerable  number  of  Sidonians  to 
Tyre,  which  migration  resulted  in  the  infusion  of  new  life  and 
energy  into  the  latter.  This  event  will  be  considered  in  another 
connection;5  here  it  may  be  sufficient  to  state  that,  when  inter- 
preted in  the  light  of  trustworthy  historical  information,  the 
tradition  offers  not  the  least  support  to  the  theory  that  the  city 
of  Sidon  is  older  than  the  city  of  Tyre. 

One  other  argument  remains,  namely,  the  contention,  found  on 
Sidonian  coins  of  the  period  of  the  Ptolemies,  that  Sidon  is 

1  Ant.,  VIII,  3,  1.  2  Historiae  Philippicce,  XVIII,  3. 

s  Cont.  Ap.,  I,  18.  *  But  see  below,  p.  llOff. 

s  Below,  p.  41  and  p.  55. 


DID   SIDON   FOUND  TYRE?  25- 

the  DN,  the  mother,  or  metropolis,  of  Tyre.1  The  expression 
undoubtedly  voices  the  claim  of  Sidon  to  be  the  founder  of  Tyre. 
It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  Tyre  set  up  the  counter  claim 
that  she  was  the  mother  of  Sidon.2  We  are  confronted,  then, 
with  two  contradictory  claims;  on  the  one  hand,  that  Sidon 
is  the  mother  of  Tyre,  on  the  other,  that  Tyre  is  the  founder  of 
Sidon.  It  is  arbitrary  to  reject,  without  examination,  one 
claim  and  uphold  the  other.  On  the  face  of  them,  both  have 
equal  value;  which  is  to  be  preferred  must  be  determined  by 
such  considerations  as  have  been  presented  in  the  preceding 
pages.  It  must  be  remembered  also  that  the  coins  are  compara- 
tively late,  and  that  therefore  caution  must  be  exercised  in  the 
use  of  their  testimony  for  the  earliest  period.  The  great  bulk  of 
testimony  to  which  reference  has  been  made  discredits  the  claim 
of  Sidon;  it  also  discredits  the  claim  of  Tyre,  for  there  is  no  evi- 
dence anywhere  that  Sidon  was  settled  by  the  Tyrians.  All 
the  evidence  points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  coins  reflect  the 
spirit  of  rivalry  at  a  late  period,  when  neither  city  enjoyed 
supremacy  over  the  other,  but  when  each  was  anxious  to  be 
recognized  as  supreme,  and  sought  to  strengthen  its  position  by 
arrogant  claims.  In  the  same  manner  must  be  interpreted 
the  more  extravagant  boasts  that  either  Sidon3  or  Tyre4  was 
the  mother  of  the  whole  of  Phoenicia. 

To  sum  up,  the  theory  that  Sidon  is  the  oldest  city  of  Phoenicia, 
or  that  she  is  older  than  Tyre,  and  enjoyed  political  supremacy 
long  before  Tyre  became  a  city  of  prominence,  cannot  be  estab- 
lished by  the  arguments  ordinarily  advanced  in  its  favor.  They 
are  successfully  contradicted  by  the  contemporaneous  docu- 
ments of  other  nations,  by  the  testimony  of  later  writers,  and  by 
the  legends  and  myths  of  Phoenicia  itself.     While  these  do  not 

1  See  below,  p.  111. 

2  See  Gesenius,  Monumenta,  pp.  261-64.  Tabl.,  34,  I.  Schroder,  Die  pho- 
nizische  Sprache,  p.  275. 

3  Achilles  Tatius,  I,  1. 

4  Meleager  of  Tyre,  in  the  epitaph  of  Antipater  of  Sidon,  quoted  by  Movers, 
II,  1,  p.  3. 


28  IS  SIDON   OLDER  THAN   TYRE? 

fix  the  dates  of  the  founding  of  either  Sidon  or  Tyre,  nor  the 
relation  of  the  two  cities  to  one  another  in  the  earliest  times, 
they  do  show  that  in  antiquity  Tyre  was  looked  upon  as  the 
older  of  the  two,  and  that  the  earlier  political  preeminence  was 
with  Tyre.1 

1  See  further  the  next  chapter,  p.  30ff. 


II.    THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  SIDON 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    FOUNDING   OF   SIDON 

The  Sidon  of  the  inscriptions,  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  of  the 
classical  writers  was  a  city  of  the  Phoenicians.  From  the  myth- 
ology of  the  Phoenicians,  as  preserved  in  the  fragments  of 
Sanchuniathon's  history,  it  would  seem  that  the  Phoenicians 
considered  themselves  autochthonous  in  the  land  which  they 
occupied  during  the  historical  period.1  The  same  idea  is  implied 
in  Gen.  10  :  15ff.  On  the  other  hand,  the  more  important  classi- 
cal writers  touching  upon  this  subject  assert  that  the  Phoenicians 
came  to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  from  southern 
Babylonia.  Herodotus  says2  that  the  Phoenicians  as  well  as  the 
Persians  believed  that  the  original  settlements  of  the  former 
were  upon  the  Erythraean  Sea,  i.e.,  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  that 
they  migrated  from  there  to  their  later  home.  Strabo  relates3 
that  the  inhabitants  of  certain  islands  in  the  Persian  Gulf  pre- 
served the  same  traditions,  and  that  they  had  temples  which 
were  Phoenician  in  character.4  Justin  describes5  the  early 
wanderings  of  the  Phoenicians  in  these  words:  "The  Syrian 
nation  was  founded  by  the  Phoenicians,  who,  being  disturbed 
by  an  earthquake,  left  their  native  land  and  settled  first  of  all 
in  the  neighborhood  of   the  Assyrian  lake,6  and   subsequently 

1  Cp.  Movers,  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1,  p.  25ff. 

2  Historia,  I,  1 ;  VII,  89.  3  Geographica,  XVI,  3,  4. 
4  Clermont-Ganneau  thinks,  and  perhaps  rightly,  that  the  introduction  of  the 

Phoenician  names  and  customs  in  southern  Babylonia,  here  alluded  to,  is  to  be 
connected  with  the  transplanting  of  Phoenicians  into  these  regions  by 
Esarhaddon;  Journ.  Asiatique,  1892,  Vol.  I,  p.  118.     See  below,  p.  53. 

1  XVIII,  3;  abbreviated  from  Trogus  Pompeius. 

6  Probably  to  be  identified  with  the  Persian  Gulf. 

27 


28  THE    FOUNDING   OF   SIDON 

on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  where  they  built  a  city  which 
they  called  Sidon,  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  fish,  for  the 
Phoenicians  call  a  fish  sidon."1 

With  thess  statements  of  ancient  writers  agree  the  results  of 
modern  research.  "The  majority  of  modern  critics,"  says 
Renan,2  ' '  admit  it  as  demonstrated  that  the  primitive  abode  of 
the  Phoenicians  should  be  placed  near  the  lower  Euphrates,  in 
th3  midst  of  the  great  commercial  and  maritime  establishments 
of  the  Persian  Gulf,  in  accord  with  the  unanimous  (sic!)  testi- 
mony of  all  antiquity. ' '  If  the  Phoenicians  were  Semites,  as  is 
universally  admitted,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  correctness 
of  this  view;  for,  whatever  one  may  think  about  the  cradle  of 
the  human  race  or  the  original  home  of  the  Semites,3  Arabia 
must  be  regarded  as  the  region  from  which  were  distributed  the 
different  Semitic  nations  known  to  history.  "All  Semites  are, 
according  to  my  conviction,  successive  deposits  of  Arabians, 
They  deposited  themselves  layer  upon  layer;  and  who  knows 
which  layer — die  wie  vielte  Schichte — for  example,  were  the 
Canaanites,  whom  we  meet  at  the  beginning  of  history."4 

In  the  course  of  time  Arabia  became  overcrowded,  and  its 
resources  were  not  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ever- 
increasing  population.  As  a  result  the  inhabitants  were  com- 
pelled to  press  out  toward  new  districts  which  might  offer  more 
adequate  sustenance.  The  most  inviting  fields  were  in  the 
regions  of  the  lower  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  near  the  head  of 
the  Persian  Gulf;  hence  these  were  occupied  first.  As  new 
groups  pressed  from  behind,  the  early  settlers  found  it  necessary 

1  Movers  questions,  though  without  sufficient  reason,  the  reliability  of  these 
reports,  II,  1,  p.  38ff.  In  the  same  place  he  mentions  other  ancient  tradi- 
tions concerning  the  origin  of  the  Phoenicians,  but  these  may  be  omitted  here, 

3  Histoire  des  Langues  Semitiques,  p.  183. 

s  For  different  opinions  on  these  two  points  see  G.  A.  Barton,  A  Sketch  of 
Semitic  Origins,  Chap.  1,  "The  Cradle  of  the  Semites." 

*  Sprenger,  Alte  Geographie  Arabiens,  p.  293;  cp.  also  Schrader,  Die  Abstam- 
mung  der  Chaldaer  und  die  Ursitze  der  Semiten,  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  XXVII,  p. 
397 ff. ;  Wright,  Comparative  Grammar  of  the  Semitic  Languages,  p.  8 ;  McCurdy, 
Hist.,  Proph.,  and  the  Monuments,  §  20.     Winckler,  Gesch.  Israels,  I,  127. 


THE   PHCENICIAN   MIGRATION  29 

to  move  farther,  and  since  from  southern  Babylonia  there  is 
only  one  natural  outlet,  in  a  northwesterly  direction  between  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  they  turned  thither  in  search  of  new  homes, 
and  finally  advanced  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  whence 
they  proceeded  to  the  islands  and  coast  lands  beyond.1  In  the 
course  of  such  wanderings  all  the  western  Semites,  including 
the  Phoenicians,  reached  the  lands  where  we  find  them  during 
the  historical  period.  To  mark  clearly  and  definitely  the  begin- 
ning and  end  of  the  separate  migrations  may  be  a  difficult  and 
almost  impossible  task;  nevertheless,  broadly  speaking,  four 
migrations  of  this  character  may  be  distinguished:  the  Baby- 
lonian, beginning  before  4000  B.C.;  the  Canaanitish-Phcenician, 
beginning  c.  2800  B.C.;  the  Aramaean,  beginning  c.  1600  B.C.; 
and  the  Arabian,  beginning  c.  700  B.C.2 

The  Phoenician  migration,  then,  began  c.  2800  B.C.,  and  dur- 
ing the  years  and  generations  and,  perhaps,  centuries  following 
the  Phoenicians  established  themselves  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean.  It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that  they 
found  there  a  land  uninhabited,  or,  if  inhabited,  filled  with 
uncivilized  barbarians.  If,  as  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt, 
the  Babylonians  undertook,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
millennium  B.C.,  warlike  expeditions  against  the  nations  living 
then  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  even  crossed  to 
the  islands  and  countries  beyond,3  who  can  doubt  that  a  mil- 
lennium later  an  extensive  population  occupied  the  country  called 
at  a  later  time  Phoenicia?  ' '  Should, ' '  says  Ed.  Meyer,4  ' '  the 
Babylonian  archives  at  any  time  give  us  any  authentic  informa- 
tion regarding  the  expeditions  of  Sargon  and  Naram-Sin,  we 
may  expect  to  find  that  there  was  in  Phoenicia  in  the  fourth 
millennium  a  state  of  things  more  or  less  similar  to  what  we  find 

1  See  below,  p.  110. 

2  Winckler,  Gesch.  Israels,  pp.  127,  128;  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  I,  p. 
430ff.     L.  B.  Paton,  Early  History  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  passim. 

9  Schrader,  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  III,  1,  p.  102ff. ;  cp.  Rogers,  History 
of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  I,  p.  365. 
*  Encycl.  Bibl.,  art.  Phoenicia. 


30  THE  FOUNDING   OF   SIDON 

2000  years  later  when  the  Egyptians  came  to  Asia. ' '  If  this  is 
true,  and  certainly  there  is  no  evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  must 
assume  that  the  Phoenicians  came  to  a  country  that  was  in  the 
possession  of  a  considerable  degree  of  civilization  and  culture,, 
and  that  would  imply,  on  the  part  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  a 
recognition  of  the  benefits  of  navigation  and  of  the  advantages 
presented  by  such  locations  as  were  occupied  by  the  later  Tyre 
and  Sidon. 

If  Egypt  and  other  nations  had  fleets  before  3000  B.C.,  is  it 
not  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  pre-Phcenician  inhabitants  of 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  were  blind  to  the  advan- 
tages of  navigation  and  of  excellent  harbor  facilities?  To  this 
pre-Phcenician  period,  and  to  these  pre-Phcenician  inhabitants, 
we  must  assign  the  founding  of  Sidon,  of  Tyre,  and  of  other 
settlements  in  the  later  Phoenicia.1 

When  the  Phoenicians  reached  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,, 
they  found  there  a  settlement  bearing  the  name  p¥,  in  honor 
of  the  god  "IV.2  This  they  made  their  first  stopping  place;  how 
long  they  remained  there  we  cannot  determine,  perhaps  a  short 
time  only.  During  the  early  stages  of  the  conquest  this  settle- 
ment served  as  the  religious  and  political  centre  of  the  new 
population.  In  order  to  secure  the  good  will  of  the  tutelar 
deity  the  Phoenicians  adopted  1)S  into  their  own  pantheon,3 
and  retained  the  ancient  name  of  the  town,  p¥.  From  the 
city  the  name  was  transferred  to  the  people  who  considered  it 


1  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  other  prominent  cities,  like  Tyre  ="W  = 
rock,  Beyrut  =  flnW  =  fountains,  Gebal  =  ^3J  «-  mountain,  have  good 
Semitic  names.  These  may  have  had  their  origin  with  the  Semitic  con- 
querors who  changed  the  more  ancient  names;  cp.  Jdg.  18  :  29;  1  :  17. 

2  See  above,  p.  13. 

3  A  similar  phenomenon  is  presented  by  the  worship  of  /VO  1^2  in 
Shechem  (Jdg.  8  :  33;  9  :  4),  and  by  the  constant  tendency  of  Israel  to  wor- 
ship the  local  Baals.  That  this  tendency  did  not  prevail  in  the  end  is  due 
solely  to  the  persistent  efforts  of  the  Yahweh  prophets.  Another  illustration 
may  be  seen  in  the  readiness  with  which  Cyrus  transferred  his  allegiance  to 
Marduk  after  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Babylon  ;  cp.  Keilinschriftliche 
Bibliothek,  III,  2,  p.  120ff. 


THE  OCCUPATION   OF  THE  SEA  COAST  31 

their  religious  centre,  and  DJI^  became  the  name  of  the  new- 
Semitic  immigrants.  As  the  latter  continued  the  conquest  of 
the  country  the  name  went  with  them,  until  the  conquerors 
came  to  be  known  everywhere  as  D^IV.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  the  name  was  applied  to  them  first  by  the  natives,  who  must 
have  felt  the  need  of  a  name  for  the  newcomers;  but  in  time, 
when,  after  the  securing  of  a  foothold,  the  conquerors  found  it 
necessary  to  distinguish  themselves  from  the  surrounding  tribes 
and  nations,  they  took  over  the  name,  prompted,  perhaps, 
again  by  the  expectation  that  in  doing  this  they  might  secure 
for  themselves  the  special  good  will  of  the  deity  of  the  land.1 

If  this  theory  is  correct,  DJ"t¥  denoted  originally  the  pre- 
Phcenician  worshipers  of  "TV,  settled  upon  the  site  of  the  later 
Phoenician  city  of  Siclon.  From  them  it  was  adopted  by  the 
Phoenician  conquerors,  who  made  that  district  their  first  stopping 
place  and,  temporarily  at  least,  their  political  and  religious 
centre.  As  the  conquest  progressed  all  the  invaders  became 
known  as  D3"T¥,  and  from  that  time  to  the  close  of  Phoeni- 
cian history  the  name,  while  used  also  in  the  narrower  sense  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  continued  to  be  used  with  the 
broader  '  tribal  or  national  significance,  equivalent  to  Qoivtzes,2' 
a  word  coined  at  a  later  time  by  the  Greeks.3 

This  view  still  leaves  the  Phoenician  Tyre  a  Sidonian  settle- 

1  It  is  true  that  this  view  is  not  based  upon  monumental  evidence,  which  is 
not  available  for  this  early  period.  However,  the  present  writer  believes 
that  it  does  complete  justice  to  our  knowledge  of  the  early  Semitic  migrations 
and  of  the  history  of  the  Phoenicians  in  subsequent  periods,  as  also  to  the 
traditions  preserved  by  later  writers.  2  See  above,  p.  17ff. 

3  The  significance  of  Qoivmec  is  still  a  matter  of  dispute.  Eustathius  (ad 
Dionysium,  912)  suggests  that  Solvit;  is  connected  with  (poivdg,  blood-red,  and 
so,  that  the  name  calls  attention  to  the  color  of  the  people.  Related  to  this 
word  is  the  Latin  Poenus,  a  name  applied  to  the  inhabitants  of  Carthage. 
Rawlinson  (History  of  Phoenicia,  p.  1),  following  Movers,  connects  the  name 
with  (f>olvt^,  the  date  palm.  "  Here — the  coast  along  the  Mediterranean — it 
would  seem,  in  their  early  voyagings,  the  pre-Homeric  Greeks  first  came  upon  a 
land  where  the  palm  tree  was  not  only  indigenous  but  formed  a  leading  and 

striking  characteristic Hence  they  called  the  tract  Phoenicia,   or 

'the  land  of   palms,'  and    the  people  who  inhabited  it  Phoenicians,  or  'the 


* 


32  THE   FOUNDING  OF  TYRE 

ment,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  commonly  thought  to 
be  such;1  only  in  the  sense  that  the  Semitic  immigrants  soon 
extended  their  conquests  from  Sidon2  and,  probably  not  without 
desperate  fighting,  occupied  Tyre,  and  transformed  it  into  a 
Semitic  city.  To  this  event  may  refer  the  tradition  preserved 
by  Herodotus;  if  so,  the  date  suggested  by  him  must  be  con- 
sidered approximately  correct.  But  before  long  the  superiority 
of  the  location  of  Tyre  asserted  itself,  and  in  a  little  while  Tyre 
surpassed  Sidon,  and  maintained  the  leadership  for  many  cen- 
turies, until  after  the  beginning  of  the  first  millennium  B.C. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  that,  from  the  evidence  at  hand,  it 
is  not  possible  to  determine  the  exact  date  of  the  founding  of 
Sidon.  It  was  founded  by  a  pre-Phcenician  population,  not 
later  than  the  close  of  the  fourth  millennium  B.C.,  probably  much 
earlier.3  About  2800  B.C.  Semites  migrated  from  southern 
Babylonia  and  settled  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean. 
Sidon  was  their  first  conquest;  they  transformed  it  into  a  Semitic 
town,  from  which,  as  the  political  and  religious  centre,  the  com- 
plete conquest  of  Phoenicia  was  accomplished,  when  Sidon  was 
displaced  from  its  eminent  position  by  the  more  fortunately 
situated  Tyre. 

palm-tree  people.'  "  The  principal  weakness  of  this  theory  lies  in  the  fact 
that  in  Phoenicia  proper  the  date  palm  is  found  but  rarely;  and  though  the 
two  words  may  have  been  connected  at  a  later  time,  there  is  insufficient  reason 
for  assuming  that  such  connection  was  recognized  originally.  By  some  the 
prototype  of  the  name  was  thought  to  be  the  Egyptian  Fenh-u,  but  W.  M. 
Muller  (Asien  und  Europa,  p.  208ff.)  has  shown  that  this  word  is  not  the  name 
of  a  nation,  but  a  poetic  designation  of  the  Asiatic  barbarians.  Ed.  Meyer 
{Encycl.  Bibl.,  art.  Phoenicia)  expresses  the  opinion  that  tyolvil-  denoted  first 
the  purple,  and  then  the  purple-men,  i.e.  the  men  who  manufactured  purple, 
the  Phoenicians.  Neither  these  nor  other  interpretations  suggested  are  quite 
satisfactory.  The  question  remains  still  open.  Cp.  Pietschmann,  Geschichte 
der  Phonizier,  pp.  13-17;  Winckler,  in  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament, 
Dritte  Auflage,  p.  127;  Guthe,  in  Herzog-Hauck,  Realencyclopwdie,  Band 
XVIII,  p.  294.  «  P.  23fT.  2  Cp.  Justin,  XVIII,  3. 

3  There  has  been  found  near  Sidon,  in  a  depth  of  about  six  metres,  a  stratum 
of  earth  containing  flint  implements,  fragments  of  coarse  red  clay  and  other 
primitive  objects,  which  may  indicate  that  the  site  of  Sidon  was  inhabited  as 
early  as  the  stone  age.     Am.  Journ.  of  Archwol.,  I,  p.  427;  II,  p.  477. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  SIDON  33 


CHAPTER  II 

HISTORY  OF  SIDON  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  TEL-EL-AMARNA  PERIOD 

Sidon  became  a  Phoenician  city  about  2800  B.C.  During  the 
progress  of  the  Phoenician  conquest  the  city  may  have  served  as 
the  political  and  religious  centre  of  the  conquerors;  but  if  so, 
this  supremacy  continued  for  a  short  time  only.  As  soon  as  the 
entire  land  came  under  the  control  of  the  Semites,  numerous 
city  states  sprang  up  along  the  coast.  Indeed,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  period  of  the  conquest,  it  is  not  possible  to 
speak  of  a  Phoenician  state  or  a  Phoenician  nation  during  this 
early  period.  ' '  Phoenicia,  like  Greece,  was  a  country  where  the 
cities  held  a  position  of  extreme  importance.  The  nation  was 
not  a  centralized  one  with  a  single  recognized  capital,  like 
Judaea,  or  Samaria,  or  Syria,  or  Assyria,  or  Babylonia.  It  was, 
like  Greece,  a  congeries  of  homogeneous  tribes  who  had  never 
been  amalgamated  into  a  single  political  entity,  and  who  clung 
fondly  to  the  idea  of  separate  independence. ' n 

The  several  Phoenician  city  states,  prominent  among  which 
were  Tyre,  Sidon,  Beyrut,  Byblos,  Arados,  continued  an  inde- 
pendent existence  for  many  centuries;  at  least  no  information 
to  the  contrary  has  yet  come  to  light.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  however,  the  Egyptians,  under  Thutmos  I,2 
began  the  conquest  of  Syria,  including  Phoenicia.3  Thutmos 
III4  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  the  first  king  bearing  the  name, 
and  after  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Canaanites  at  Megiddo,  in 
1479,5  most  of  the  Phoenician  cities  appear  to  have  submitted 
to  him  without  resistance;  only  Simyra  and  Arados  had  to  be 

1  Rawlinson,  History  of  Phoenicia,  p.  64;  cp.  Movers,  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1, 
p.  83ff.;  v.  Landau,  in  Der  Alte  Orient,  II,  4,  p.  10;  Gen.  10  :  15-18. 

1  Breasted,  1557-1501  B.C.  8  Breasted,  History  of  Egypt,  p.  257ff. 

*  1501-1447.  •  Breasted,  History ,  p.  284ff. 


34  TO   THE   TEL-EL-AMARNA  PERIOD 

taken  by  force.  The  local  princes  became  vassals,  whose  au- 
thority depended  upon  the  good  will  of  the  Pharaoh;  they  had 
to  pay  tribute  and  supply  provisions  for  the  Egyptian  armies, 
and  their  sons  were  educated  at  the  court  of  Egypt.  The 
supremacy  of  Egypt  continued  for  less  than  a  century,  when 
under  Amenhotep  III1  and  Amenhotep  IV,2  who  had  no  special 
interest  in  war,  it  declined  and  finally  came  to  an  end. 

In  none  of  the  earlier  Egyptian  inscriptions  is  any  mention 
made  of  Sidon.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  at  that  time  it 
occupied  only  a  secondary  position  among  the  cities  of  Phoenicia; 
much  more  prominent  were  the  cities  of  the  north.  However, 
the  Tel-el-Amarna  correspondence  shows  that  Sidon  played  a 
prominent  role  in  the  closing  scenes  of  the  Egyptian  struggles. 
From  the  north  the  Hittites  threatened  the  Egyptian  possessions 
in  Asia;  associated  with  them  were  the  wandering  tribes  of  the 
Habiri;  and  as  the  attack  progressed  several  of  the  Syrian  and 
Phoenician  cities  joined  forces  with  the  invaders  against  Egypt. 
The  chief  offenders  among  the  Egyptian  vassals  appear  to  have 
been  Abd-asirta,  governor  of  Amurru,3  and  his  son  Aziru. 
Allied  with  these  was  Zimrida  of  Sidon,  as  is  made  very  plain 
by  the  complaints  sent  against  him  to  the  Egyptian  court. 
Rib-addi  of  Gebal  again  and  again  brings  charges  of  disloyalty 
against  the  Sidonians  and  their  king:  "The  ships  and  people 
of  Simyra,  Beyrut,  Sidon,  all  of  them  in  Amurru,  as  many  as 
there  are  of  them,  press  upon  me."4  In  another  letter,  which 
gives  a  vivid  picture  of  his  desperate  condition,  the  same  king 
expresses  a  fear  that  his  people,  who  were  without  food,  would 
desert  to  the  sons  of  Abd-asirta,  and  Sidon,  and  Beyrut.5  He 
continues:  "Behold,  the  sons  of  Abd-asirta  are  hostile  to  the 
king,  and  Sidon  and  Beyrut  are  not  for  the  king. ' ,e  A  similar 
complaint  is  contained  in  B.  77:  "Zimrida  ....  and  Yapa- 
addu  ....  against  me. ' ,7    A  little  later  he  dispatches  a  letter 

1 1411-1375.  2 1375-1358.     Called  also  Ikhnaton. 

3  L.  44,  11.  30,  31.  *  L.  13, 11.  12-15. 

8  B.  54,  B.  13-19;  cp.  B.  48,  11.  69-74.  8  B.  54,  11.  19-23 
1  U.  18,  19. 


LETTERS   OF  RIB-ADDI  35 

to  the  Pharaoh,1  in  which  he  calls  attention  once  more  to  his 
distress,  and  complains  bitterly  about  the  treatment  accorded 
to  his  messenger  at  court.  Unless  he  receives  immediate  relief 
he  must  surrender  the  city.  Only  out  of  loyalty  to  the  king 
does  he  undergo  the  present  hardships,  for  his  personal  interests 
would  be  better  served  by  following  in  the  footsteps  of  other 
princes  who  had  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  enemy. 
"If  I  would  come  to  an  understanding  with  Abd-asirta,  like 
Yapa-addu  and  Zimrida,  I  would  be  saved. ' n  B.  50  is  another 
letter  from  Rib-addi,  in  which  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
his  letters  and  messengers  have  brought  no  response  from  the 
court.  On  the  reverse  side  of  the  tablet  are  named  the  kings 
of  Beyrut  and  Sidon  and  the  king  of  another  city,3  but  the  text 
is  almost  illegible.  It  would  seem  that  Rib-addi  wrote  to  these 
kings,4  and  sent  messengers  to  them,5  asking  for  assistance,6 
which  was  refused.  After  five  years  of  hardships  and  suffering, 
he  addresses  the  king  once  more.7  The  occasion  is  the  siege  of 
Simyra.  The  enemy  has  approached  to  the  very  gates,  though 
the  city  itself  is  still  holding  out.  For  five  years  has  the  con- 
spiracy against  him  continued,  one  of  the  chief  conspirators 
being  Zimrida  of  Sidon.  ' '  Zimrida  and  all  the  other  brethren — 
i.e.,  the  other  princes — have  fallen  away  from  me,  and  they  are 
fighting  against  Simyra."8 

More  serious  complaints  even  are  made  by  Abi-milki,  the 
vassal  king  of  Tyre.  He  never  wearies  of  affirming  his  own  loyalty 
to  Egypt,  nor  of  accusing  Sidon  of  shameful  treachery.  One 
of  his  earliest  letters  is  L.  29.  The  greater  part  of  the  epistle 
he  devotes  to  the  affirmation  of  his  own  loyalty,  but  he  closes 
with  these  significant  words :  ' '  Moreover,  Zimrida,  the  Sidonian, 
day  after  day  sends  to  him  the  rebel  Aziru,  the  son  of  Abd- 
asirta,  concerning  all  things  which  he  hears  from  Egypt.  There- 
fore I  write  to  my  lord,  and  it  is  well  for  him  to  know."9  At  a 
later  stage  of  the  conflict  he  makes  this  complaint:10  "Beit 

1  L.  14.  2 II.  24-27.  s  II.  4-6.  4 I.  7.  *  I.  10. 

eZ.  17.  'B.43.  8«.20,21.  HI.  66-71.  10  L.  28, 11. 47-49. 


36  TO   THE  TEL-EL-AMARNA  PERIOD 

known  to  the  king:  Although  thou  hast  appointed  me  governor 
in  Tyre,  Zimrida  has  taken  away  Uzu. ' n  And  again, ' '  Zimrida 
of  Sidon,  and  Aziru,  the  rebel  against  the  king,  and  the  people 
of  Arvad  have  consulted  together  and  have  formed  a  conspiracy, 
and  have  brought  together  their  ships,  their  war  chariots,  and 
their  niru  soldiers,  to  take  away  Tyre,  the  maid  of  the  king."2 
Once  more:  "Tyre  they  have  not  been  able  to  capture,  but 
Simyra  they  have  taken.  In  the  mouth  of  Zimrida  is  the  com- 
mand which  the  king  sends  to  Aziru."3  From  approximately 
the  same  period  comes  B.  231,  in  which  the  king  reports  the 
hostility  of  some  of  the  neighboring  princes :  ' '  Behold  the  prince 
of  the  city  ....  and  Zimrida  are  hostile  toward  me  day  and 
night."4  To  a  slightly  later  date  belongs  L.  30.  Abi-milki 
expresses  a  desire  to  visit  the  court  of  the  king;  but,  says  he, 
1 '  I  cannot  on  account  of  Zimrida  of  Sidon.  As  soon  as  he  hears 
concerning  me  that  I  plan  to  go  to  the  court,  he  undertakes 
hostilities  against  me."5  Toward  the  close  of  the  letter  he 
writes:  "I  have  learned  of  the  crime  of  Zimrida,  that  he  has 
brought  together  ships  and  soldiers  out  of  the  cities  of  Aziru  .  .  . 
against  me."9  Soon  afterward  he  sends  a  pitiful  appeal  for 
speedy  relief,  because  he  is  in  desperate  straits.  Again  Zimrida 
is  one  of  the  dreaded  enemies.  ' '  Behold  the  prince  of  ....  in 
ships  has  come  and  the  prince  of  Sidon  in  two  ships,  and  I  will 
go  with  all  my  ships  and  all  ...  .  And  may  the  king  care  for 
his  servant  and  protect  .  .  .  . "  7 

The  loss  of  Uzu  wrought  great  hardships  for  the  inhabitants 
of  island  Tyre ;  hence  Abi-milki  pleads  with  the  Pharaoh  to  bring 
about  the  restoration  of  the  city,  that  he  may  secure  there  food 
and  water:  "Since  every  day  the  king  of  Sidon  takes  away 
my  niru  soldiers,  may  the  king  incline  his  countenance  to  his 
servant,  and  give  orders  to  his  representative,  that  he  may 
restore  to  me  Uzu,  for  water  to  his  servant,  and  to  secure  wood, 

1  Uzu  was  on  the  mainland,  opposite  the  island  Tyre,  and  supplied  the 
latter  with  drinking  water. 

2  0.  53-63.  8 II.  65-70.  4  U.  14-16. 
•  II.  10-14.                                       8 11.  64-68.                            7  L.  31,  11.  57-61. 


LETTERS   OF  ABI-MILKI  37 

and  straw,  and  clay."1  And  again:  "The  king  of  Sidon  and 
the  king  of  Hazor  has  left  his  (city?),  and  they  have  allied  them- 
selves with  the  Habiri. ' n  In  the  same  strain  he  writes  :3  ' '  Since 
the  troops  of  the  king,  my  lord,  have  left  me,  the  prince  of  Sidon, 
my  brother,  does  not  permit  me  to  descend  to  the  land,  to  get 
wood,  and  to  get  water  for  drinking  purposes.  One(?)  man 
has  he  killed,  and  one(?)  man  has  he  not  left  alive(?)."' 

A  close  alliance  between  Sidon  and  Aziru  is  implied  also  in 
B.  92,  a  letter  written  by  the  Pharaoh  to  Aziru,  in  which  he 
rebukes  the  latter  for  his  attitude  toward  Rib-addi  of  Gebal. 
Apparently  the  latter  had  sought  refuge  in  Sidon,  where  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Aziru.  "When  he  was  in  Sidon,  thou  didst 
deliver  him  up  to  the  princes.  ■  '5 

Often  the  Pharaoh  must  have  wondered  what  were  the  real 
conditions  in  Syria  and  Phoenicia,  who  were  his  friends  and  who 
were  his  foes,  for  at  the  very  time  one  vassal  prince  accused 
another  of  treachery,  the  accused  would  send  to  the  court  the 
most  solemn  affirmations  of  loyalty.  One  illustration  of  this  is 
furnished  by  L.  44,  a  letter  addressed  by  Abd-asirta  to  the 
Pharaoh.  Though  there  can  be  no  question  that  Abd-asirta  was 
one  of  the  chief  conspirators  against  Egypt,8  he  in  this  letter 
humbly  appeals,  as  a  loyal  vassal  of  the  Pharaoh,  for  assistance 
against  enemies  threatening  him  from  within  and  without.  To 
strengthen  his  own  position  he  accuses  of  treachery  against  the 
Pharaoh  Sidon,  which,  according  to  the  letters  of  Rib-addi  and 
Abi-milki,  had  made  common  cause  with  Abd-asirta  against 
Egypt.  Though  some  parts  of  the  letter  are  obscure,  the  general 
thought  seems  to  be  that  three  cities,  the  names  of  two  of  which 
have  been  preserved,  had  rebelled  and  were  sending  ships  against 

1  B.  99,  11.  23-34.  2 11.  40-43.  3  B.  162,  11.  11-21. 

*  This  letter  may  belong  to  an  earlier  period.  It  does  not  imply  necessarily 
the  loss  of  Uzu.  Abi-milki  may  mean  only  that  the  Sidonians  sought  to 
prevent  the  crossing  of  the  channel.  If  Uzu  was  still  a  part  of  the  territory  of 
Tyre,  this  letter  must  be  earlier  than  L.  28,  which  announces  the  loss  of  the 
city. 

•  11.  12,  13.  6  B.  55,  B.  48,  B.  84,  etc. 


38  TO   THE  TEL-EL-AMARNA   PERIOD 

Amurru,  over  which  Abd-asirta  had  been  made  governor  by  the 
king.  He  prays  the  king  for  protection,  and  urges  him  to  place 
in  these  cities  governors  who  will  be  ready  to  assist  him  against 
his  own  people,  for  they  threaten  to  kill  him.  % '  And  the  people 
of  Sidon  and  Beyrut,  whose  are  these  cities?  Not  the  king's? 
Place  one  man  in  each  city.  And  if  he  sends  no  ships  to  Amurru, 
then  they — i.e.,  the  inhabitants  of  Amurru — will  kill  Abd-asirta. 
The  king  has  placed  him  over  them,  not  they  themselves.  Let 
the  king  give  orders  to  the  three  cities,  and  to  the  ships  of  the 
governors,  that  they  may  not  depart  from  Amurru,  and  take 
captive  Abd-asirta. ' n 

Zimrida  also  knew  how  to  feign  loyalty  and  obedience  to  the 
Pharaoh.  B.  90  is  a  letter  written  to  the  latter  by  the  king  of 
Sidon.  "To  the  king,  my  lord,  my  (great)  god,  my  sun,  the 
breath  of  my  life;  thus  Zimrida,  the  governor  of  Sidon:  At  the 
feet  of  my  lord,  my  god,  the  sun,  the  breath  of  my  life;  at  the 
feet  of  my  lord,  my  god,  my  sun,  the  breath  of  my  life,  seven  and 
seven  times  I  bow.  Be  it  known  to  the  king,  my  lord,  that 
peaceful  is  Sidon,  the  maid  of  the  king,  my  lord,  which  he  has 
committed  into  my  hand.  And  when  I  heard  the  message  of 
the  king,  my  lord,  when  he  wrote  to  his  servant,  then  was  glad 
my  heart,  and  I  raised  my  head,  and  brightened  my  eyes,  when 
I  heard  the  message  of  the  king,  my  lord.  Be  it  known  to  the 
king,  that  I  am  at  the  command  of  the  troops  of  the  king,  my  lord. 
I  carry  out  everything  as  commands  the  king,  my  lord,  And  be 
it  known  to  the  king,  my  lord,  that  powerful  is  hostility  against 
me;  all  my  cities  which  the  king  committed  into  my  hands  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Habiri.  May  the  king  place  me  in 
the  hands  (i.e.,  under  the  protection)  of  him  who  marches  at  the 
head  of  the  troops  of  the  king,  to  demand  the  cities  which  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Habiri,  and  to  restore  them  into  my 
hand,  that  I  may  serve  the  king,  my  lord,  as  my  fathers  have 
done  before." 

B.  182  contains  another  letter  of  Zimrida.     It  is  in  such  dam- 

1 11.  23-35. 


lp:tters  of  zimrida  39 

aged  condition,  however,  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  its 
meaning.  It  seems  that  he  complains  again  about  hostilities 
undertaken  against  him,1  and  that  he  promises  to  report  on 
conditions  in  Amurru,  in  accord  with  the  demand  made  upon 
him.2 

From  this  correspondence  these  facts  concerning  Sidon  may 
be  learned:  1.  Some  time  before  the  crisis  reflected  in  the  letters 
Sidon  had  become  a  vassal  state  of  Egypt.3  2.  The  governor- 
ship passed  from  father  to  son.4  3.  One  of  the  kings  of  Egypt, 
probably  Thutmos  III,  visited  Sidon.5  4.  Sidon  did  not  enjoy 
any  special  preeminence  over  the  other  cities  of  Phoenicia.  It 
was  one  of  several  city  states  along  the  coast;  it  may  have  con- 
trolled the  surrounding  villages,6  but  its  territory  was  limited. 
The  fact  that  Sidon  was  on  the  winning  side  may  have  given  to 
it  temporarily  greater  prominence  than  was  enjoyed  by  the 
cities  that  shared  the  misfortunes  of  Egypt,  e.g.,  Tyre.  5.  Sidon 
was  one  of  the  first  to  throw  off  the  Egyptian  yoke,  and  was 
among  the  most  active  foes  of  the  Pharaohs. 

Aside  from  these  few  facts  nothing  is  known  concerning  the 
fortunes  of  Sidon  from  the  time  of  the  Phoenician  conquest  to 
the  close  of  the  Tel-el-Amarna  period. 

1 1.  14.  2 11.  23ff.  3  B.  90,  11.  33,  34.  4  ib. 

6  B.  48,  11.  69-73.     "Since  thy  father  has  returned  from  Sidon,  since  that 
time  the  lands  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Habiri. ' ' 
6  B.  90,  11.  24,  25. 


40  TO   THE   DESTRUCTION   BY  ESARHADDON 


CHAPTER  III 

TO   THE   DESTRUCTION  OF  SIDON   BY   ESARHADDON 

Concerning  the  events  in  Phoenicia  during  the  centuries 
immediately  following  the  crisis  reflected  in  the  Tel-el-Amarna 
correspondence  no  direct  information  has  been  preserved.  It 
is  not  improbable  that,  for  a  short  time  at  least,  the  overlordship 
of  the  Egyptians  was  exchanged  for  that  of  the  Hittites,  who 
during  the  fourteenth  and  thirteenth  centuries  B.C.  established 
themselves  in  northern  Syria.1  The  exact  boundary  line  between 
the  two  nations  is  not  defined  in  the  treaty  entered  into  by 
Rameses  II  in  1272,  but  it  is  certain  that  neither  he  nor  his 
successors  could  compel  the  allegiance  of  the  Phoenicians. 

The  character  of  the  Hittite  rule  over  the  coast  cities,  if  it 
existed,  is  not  known.  However,  we  may  safely  assume  that  it 
did  not  interrupt  the  steady,  natural  development  of  Sidon  and 
the  other  Phoenician  cities.  To  the  thirteenth  century  belongs 
the  mention  of  Sidon  on  the  Papyrus  Anastasi  I,2  but  it  throws 
no  light  upon  conditions  in  the  city.8 

With  the  great  movements  among  the  nations  bordering  on 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  which  occurred  at  about  this  time,4 
Krall  connects  the  tradition  of  Justin.5  ' '  The  tradition  should 
perhaps  be  interpreted  in  this  wise:  The  island  Tyre,  which, 

1  For  the  conflicts  of  Rameses  II  with  the  Hittites  see  Breasted,  Hist,  of 
Egypt,  p.  425ff.     On  p.  425,  1388  should  be  1288  B.C. 

3  See  above,  p.  21. 

s  The  references  to  Tyre  and  Sidon  in  the  early  Egyptian  inscriptions  are  so 
few  in  number  that  from  them  no  inference  can  be  drawn  concerning  the  rela- 
tion of  the  two  cities  to  each  other.  Tyre  appears  to  have  been  more  promi- 
nent, but  there  is  insufficient  warrant  for  the  contention  of  Jeremias,  Tyrus 
bis  zur  Zeit  Nebukadnezars,  p.  16,  that  Sidon  was  at  this  time  a  dependency  of 
Tyre. 

*  Cp.  Breasted,  History,  p.  477ff. 

*  Historice,  XVIII,  3 ;  see  above,  p.  24. 


THE  HITTITE   SUPREMACY  41! 

not  expecting  an  attack  from  the  sea,  was  without  strong  forti- 
fications in  ancient  times,1  was  overrun  in  the  course  of  these 
movements  by  nations  that  possessed  a  powerful  navy.  After 
this  catastrophe  the  city  received  additions  from  Sidon,  which 
at  this  time  was  probably  still  a  part  of  the  territory  of  Tyre. 
However  that  may  be,  so  much  is  certain :  that  here  Sidon  appears 
for  the  first  time  in  Phoenician  history;  not  the  close  of  a  long 
and  glorious  activity  of  Sidon  lies  here  before  us,  but  the  first 
beginning  of  an  independent  government  of  the  city."2  In 
favor  of  this  interpretation  of  Justin's  tradition  is  the  fact  that 
the  date  of  the  migrations  of  the  nations  corresponds,  approxi- 
mately at  least,  with  the  date  of  the  building  of  Tyre  suggested 
by  Justin  and  Josephus.3  On  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  explain 
the  part  played  by  a  king  of  Ascalon  in  the  driving  out  of  the 
Sidonians,  nor  does  it  furnish  any  evidence  to  prove  the  assump- 
tion that  Tyre  suffered  in  the  manner  described.  Until  such 
evidence  is  brought  to  light  the  theory  of  Krall  must,  to  say  the 
least,  remain  exceedingly  doubtful.4 

While  the  Hittites  were  establishing  themselves  in  northern 
Syria,  a  kingdom  was  forming  between  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris  which  was  destined  to  overthrow  the  Hittite  rule.  The 
Assyrians  crossed  the  Euphrates  for  the  first  time  c.  1300  B.C.r 
under  Salmaneser  I.5  However,  the  west  was  not  seriously 
threatened  by  them  until  nearly  two  centuries  later.  About 
1120  B.C.,  Tiglathpileser  I,  "the  grand  monarch  of  western  Asia 
in  his  day,"  came  upon  the  throne.  He  marched  westward 
and  subdued  "the  Kaski  and  the  Urumi,  people  of  the  land  of 
Hatti."6  He  also  calls  himself  "the  conqueror  from  the  great 
sea  of  the  westland — i.e.,  the  Mediterranean — to  the  sea  of  the 
land  of  the  Nairi."7  Silence  concerning  the  cities  of  Phoenicia 
warrants  the  assumption  that  he  did  not  come  into  direct  hostile 
contact  with  them  during  these  expeditions.     His  successor 

1  Cp.  Movers,  Die  Phonizier,  II,  1,  p.  221. 

2  Tyrus  und  Sidon,  p.  672 ;  cp.  Jeremias,  Tyrus,  p.  17.  3  See  above,  p.  24. 
4  For  a  more  satisfactory  interpretation  see  p.  55.  5  Rogers,  Hist.,  II,  p.  13. 
• 1  R.  10,  Col.  II,  11.  100,  101.                                7  III  R.  3,  No.  6;  11.  58-60- 


42  TO  THE  DESTRUCTION   BY   ESARHADDON 

Asur-bel-Kala  has  left  only  one  short  inscription,1  in  which  he 
alludes  to  the  gods  of  the  land  of  Martu2 — i.e.,  the  land  of  the 
Amorites,  which  is  Syria,  an  allusion  which  may  point  to  his 
control  of  the  west.3 

Following  the  death  of  Tiglathpileser  I,  Assyria  was  ruled  for 
nearly  two  centuries  by  weaklings,  and  nothing  is  heard  of 
military  expeditions  against  the  westland.  As  a  result,  the 
western  states  enjoyed  peace,  and  entered  upon  a  period  of 
great  political  activity.  During  these  centuries  the  Hebrew 
kingdom  was  born,  and  the  kingdom  of  Damascus  came  into 
being.  The  Phoenicians  also  remained  undisturbed,  and  now 
for  the  first  time  do  we  read  of  a  powerful  Phoenician  state  under 
the  rule  of  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  about  980  B.C.4  Though  Hiram 
bears  the  title  king  of  Tyre,  his  subjects  are  called  Sidonians.5 
This  peculiar  usage  must  be  explained  as  suggested  above,6  and 
the  phrase  implies  that  he  controlled  some  portions  of  Phoenicia 
outside  of  the  city  of  Tyre.  That  his  rule  included  Sidon  can 
be  neither  proved  nor  disproved.  The  expression  itself  does 
not  imply  it,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest  indication  anywhere 
that  he  was  recognized  as  the  king  of  Sidon,  or  that  he  made  any 
move  toward  displacing  the  legitimate  king  of  the  latter  city.7 
Tyre  was  nearer  to  the  territory  of  the  Israelites  than  any  other 
prominent  city  of  Phoenicia;  hence  it  was  only  natural  that  they 
should  look  upon  it  as  the  representative  city  of  the  Phoenicians. 
The  most  that  may  be  inferred  from  the  Biblical  statements  is 
that  Sidon  occupied  at  this  time  a  secondary  position.     That 

1 1  R.  6,  No.  6.  2 11.  6,  7. 

3  So  Rogers,  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  II,  p.  33;  Sayce,  Records  of 
the  Past,  New  Ser.,  VI,  p.  78.  Jeremias  thinks  that  the  reference  is  to  Martu  in 
Elam. 

*  2  S.  5  :  11 ;  1  K.  5  :  15;  9  :  11 ;  1  Chr.  14  : 1 ;  2  Chr.  2  :  2;  2  :  10;  cp.  1  K.  9  :  12. 

»1K.  5  :  20;  op.  11  : 1,5,  33.  •  P.  17ff. 

7  Cp.  v.  Landau,  Der  Alte  Orient,  II,  4,  p.  19.  The  statements  of  Eupo- 
lemus,  quoted  by  Eusebius  in  Pr&paratio  Evangelica,  that  Hiram  was  king 
of  Tyre  and  Phoenicia  (IX,  30),  or  king  of  Tyre,  and  Sidon,  and  Phoenicia 
(IX,  33) ,  mark  a  later  attempt  to  combine  the  statements  in  Kings,  the  full 
force  of  which  was  not  understood. 


THE  TENTH   AND   NINTH  CENTURIES  43 

Tyre  showed  unusual  activity  need  not  be  denied,1  but  the 
probability  is  that  Sidon  continued  to  prosper  as  an  independent 
city  state,  though  perhaps  on  a  smaller  scale  than  her  more 
fortunately  situated  sister. 

The  next  historical  reference  to  Sidon  takes  us  to  the  reign 
of  Asurnasirpal  of  Assyria.2  In  876  he  undertook  his  first  expedi- 
tion westward.  Of  it  he  has  left  this  account:  "At  that  time 
I  occupied  the  slopes  of  the  Lebanon.  To  the  great  sea  of  the 
westland  I  marched.  By  the  great  sea  I  hung  up  my  weapons. 
I  offered  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  The  tribute  of  the  kings  of  the 
coasts  of  the  sea,  of  the  Tyrians,  the  Sidonians,  the  Gebalites, 
the  Makhallatians,  the  Maizians,  the  Kaizians,3  the  people  of 
the  westland,  and  of  Arvad  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  silver,  gold, 
lead,  copper,  plates  of  copper,  variegated  clothes,  linen  vestments, 
a  great  pagutu,  and  a  small  pagutu,  Usu  wood,  Urkarinu  wood, 
ivory,  a  porpoise,  the  offspring  of  the  sea,  as  their  tribute  I 
received.  They  embraced  my  feet."4  Asurnasirpal  did  not 
follow  up  this  victory.  When  he  had  collected  the  tribute,  he 
proceeded  to  cut  down  building  material,  which  he  carried  to 
Nineveh,  and  the  remainder  of  his  reign  was  devoted  to  works 
of  peace.  The  payment  of  the  tribute  to  Asurnasirpal  is  the 
first  illustration  of  the  policy  which  the  Phoenician  cities  prac- 
ticed quite  consistently  for  several  centuries.  Rather  than 
suffer  their  commercial  enterprises  to  be  interfered  with,  they 
were  ready  to  sacrifice,  without  a  blow,  their  political  independ- 
ence. The  noteworthy  fact  about  the  above  inscription  is  that 
Sidon  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  several  independent  cities  of 
Phoenicia.5 


1  Josephus,  Cont.  Ap.,  I,  18.  2  885-860  B.C. 

3  Delitzsch,  Wo  lag  das  Parodies?  p.  282,  suggests  that  the  three  cities, 
Makhalla,  Maiz,  and  Kaiz,  formed  the  later  Tripolis;  cp.  Sayce,  Records  of  the 
Past,  New  Ser.,  II,  p.  172,  note  1;  but  Winckler  (Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte 
Testament,  Dritte  Auflage,  p.  41)  calls  them  "  three  otherwise  unknown  cities." 

4 1  R.  24,  Col.  Ill,  11.  84-88. 

5  To  the  period  of  Asurnasirpal  belongs  Ethbaal,  king  of  Tyre — 1  K.  16  :  31 
— called  by  Josephus  (Contra  Ap.,  I,  18)  Ithobalos. 


44  TO   THE   DESTRUCTION   BY  ESARHADDON 

Von  Landau  assumes,1  partly  on  the  basis  of  the  statements  of 
Josephus,2  that  toward  the  close  of  the  tenth  century  B.C.  the 
government  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  passed  from  the  dynasty  of 
Tyre  to  that  of  Sidon,  which,  he  thinks,  had  suffered  almost 
complete  eclipse  under  Hiram  and  his  immediate  successors. 
In  the  passage  mentioned,  Josephus,  quoting  from  Menander,* 
says:  "After  the  death  of  Hiram  (DIPT),  Balbazerus  pfJ^JD), 
his  son,  took  the  kingdom;  he  lived  forty- three  years,  and 
reigned  seven  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Abdastartos 
(mn&J'J/'TD.y),  who  lived  twenty-nine  years  and  reigned  nine 
years.  Now  four  sons  of  his  nurse  plotted  against  him  and 
slew  him,  the  oldest  of  whom,  Methusastartos  (fnriB'JflfiD 
or  mnWlO  -  mrUPynON;  so  Lidzbarski,  Handbuch  der 
nordsemitischen  Epigraphik,  p.  319),  the  son  of  Leastartos 
(imn&P  .  .  .),  became  king;  he  lived  fifty-four  years  and  ruled 
twelve.  After  him  came  his  brother  Astharymos  (.  .  .  fWWJ?  ?) , 
who  lived  fifty-eight  years  and  reigned  nine  years.  He  was  slain 
by  his  brother  Phelles  (Jlin^-1?^?),  who  took  the  kingdom 
and  reigned  eight  months,  having  lived  fifty  years.  Him  killed 
Ithobalos  (TVSnK),  the  priest  of  Astarte,  who  lived  forty-eight 
years  and  reigned  thirty-two  years. ' '  Does  this  account  throw 
any  light  on  the  history  of  Sidon?  Von  Landau  insists  that  it 
does,  and  his  argument  is  as  follows :  He  starts  with  the  assump- 
tion that  Hiram,  the  contemporary  of  Solomon,  subdued  Sidon, 
Now  Ithobalos  is  called  priest  of  Astarte ;  but,  says  he,  Astarte 
(  =  Astart)  is  the  principal  deity  of  Sidon,  hence  Ithobalos  must 
be  a  member  of  the  dynasty  of  Sidon.4  As  a  further  inference 
he  sees  in  the  assassination  of  Phelles  by  Ithobalos  a  revolution 
of  Sidon  against  the  dynasty  of  Tyre,  which  resulted  in  the 
supplanting  of  the  latter  by  the  dynasty  of  Sidon.  This  is  a 
very  bold  conjecture.    The  worship  of  Astart  was  by  no  means 

1  Der  AUe  Orient,  II,  4,  pp.  19,  20.  2  Contr.  Ap.,  I,  18, 

3  The  translation  is  based  upon  the  Greek  text  edited  by  Niese,  Vol.  V,  p.  22. 

4  Tabnit  and  Esmunazar  I  are  called  priests  of  AStart  in  the  inscription  of 
Tabnit,  11,1,2;  and  the  mother  of  Esmunazar  II  is  called  a  priestess  of  A§tart, 
— Inscription  of  Esmunazar,  I.  15. 


THE   NINTH   CENTURY  45 

confined  to  Sidon,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  names  of 
two,  perhaps  three,  of  the  kings  enumerated  by  Josephus  con- 
tain the  name  of  the  deity  Astart — Abd-astartos,  the  grandson  of 
Hiram,  Methusastartos,  the  usurper,  and,  perhaps,  Astharymos, 
his  brother;  it  is  found  also  in  Leastartos.  Underlying  the 
theory  is  the  false  assumption  that  Hiram  and  his  immediate 
successors  were  kings  of  Sidon  as  well  as  of  Tyre.  In  reality 
there  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for  believing  that  at  any  time 
during  this  period  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  united  under  one  king. 

The  son  and  successor  of  Asurnasirpal,  Salmaneser  II,1  under- 
took several  expeditions  against  the  westland.  The  account  of 
one  of  these,  undertaken  in  842,  contains  this  statement:  "At 
that  time  I  received  the  tribute  of  the  Tyrians,  the  Sidonians,  and 
of  Jehu,  the  son  of  Omri. ' n  Evidently  the  people  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon  had  resumed  their  commerce,  and  in  order  to  prevent  the 
interruption  of  their  enormous  profits,  they  were  quite  ready  to 
pay  the  tribute  demanded  of  them.  In  839,  the  twenty-first 
year  of  his  reign,  Salmaneser  led  another  army  against  the  west- 
land,  and  again  we  read:  "The  tribute  of  the  Tyrians,  the 
Sidonians  and  the  Gebalites  I  received. '  '3 

It  is  not  likely  that  the  Assyrian  expeditions  interfered  very 
seriously  with  the  activities  of  Sidon  and  the  other  Phoenician 
cities,  or  with  their  practical  independence.  The  Assyrian  con- 
querors made  no  attempt  to  establish  a  permanent  government 
in  the  west,  and  the  tribute  imposed  was  probably  very  insig- 
nificant, when  compared  with  the  immense  income  of  the  mer- 
chant cities. 

Adad-nirari  III4  undertook,  according  to  the  brief  notes  in  the 
Eponym  canon,  at  least  two  expeditions  against  the  west,5  but 
no  details  are  given  there.     In  one  inscription  he  makes  this 

1  860-825.  a  III  R.  5,  No.  6, 11.  63-65. 

8  Black  Obelisk,  Col.  II,  11.  103-104;  see  Abel  und  Winckler,  Keilschrifttexte, 
p.  10. 

4 811-783. 

8  The  Eponym  canon  speaks  of  an  expedition  against  Arpad  in  806,  of  one 
to  the  sea  coast  in  803;  see  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  I,  p.  208. 


46  TO   THE  DESTRUCTION   BY  ESARHADDON 

claim:  "From  beyond  the  Euphrates,  the  land  of  the  Hittitesr 
the  westland  in  its  entirety,  Tyre,  Sidon,  the  land  of  Omrir 
Edom,  Philistia,  to  the  great  sea  of  the  setting  sun,  I  subjected 
unto  my  feet;  tribute  and  taxes  I  imposed  upon  them."1  The 
king  sets  up  the  claim  here  that  he  subjected  Sidon;  it  is  not 
improbable,  however,  that  he  means  to  say  nothing  more  than 
that  the  city  paid  tribute,  as  on  former  occasions. 

Following  the  reign  of  Adad-nirari,  the  power  of  Assyria  de- 
clined for  about  forty  years,  during  which  period  the  western  states 
had  a  breathing  spell,  and  were  able  once  more  to  pursue,  unmo- 
lested, their  own  policies.  Now,  if  ever,  Tyre  had  the  opportunity 
to  assert  her  supremacy,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  she  was 
successful.  In  745  the  great  warrior  Tiglathpileser  III  came 
to  the  throne  of  Assyria,  who  in  a  short  while  resumed  opera- 
tions in  the  west,  which  had  been  discontinued  under  his  immedi- 
ate predecessors.  As  early  as  743  he  marched  westward,  direct- 
ing his  attack  against  Arpad,  which  fell  after  a  desperate  struggle 
lasting  three  years.2  When  Arpad  fell,  the  kings  of  the  neigh- 
boring nations,  with  one  exception,  Tutamma,  king  of  the  Unki, 
brought  presents,  among  them  Hiram  of  Tyre.3  No  mention 
is  made  of  Sidon.  In  738  the  Eponym  canon  locates  Tiglath- 
pileser again  in  northern  Syria;  again  he  was  victorious,  and 
again  did  Hiram  of  Tyre  and  other  princes  pay  tribute.  ' '  The 
tribute  of  Kustaspi  of  Kummukh,  Rezin  of  Damascus,  Menahem 
of  Samaria,  Hiram  (Hi-ru-um)  of  Tyre,  Sibitti-bi'li  (^JfcntfMP?) 
of  Gebal ....  I  received. '  '*  Again  no  mention  is  made  of  Sidon. 
To  maintain  a  more  permanent  hold  on  the  west,  Tiglathpileser 
organized  a  Phoenician  province,  which  he  placed  under  the 
control  of  his  son  Salmaneser.5    In  734  he  is  found  once  more 


1 1  R.  35,  No.  1, 11. 11-13. 

2  See  Eponym  canon,  years  743-740;  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  I,  p.  212. 

8  G.  Smith,  Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  274,  11.  lOff.  This  is  the  Hiram  men- 
tioned in  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  5,  as  king  of  the  Sidonians,  =  Phoenicians;  see  below,, 
p.  153.  •  III  R.  9,  0.  50ff. 

5  Winckler,  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  II,  p.  4,  cp.  p.  67 ;  Keilinschriftliches- 
Textbuch,  p.  35. 


TIGLATHPILESER  AND   §ALMANESER  4T 

on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,1  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  to  this  period  should  be  assigned  the  expedition  against 
Tyre  recorded  in  II  R.  67, 2.  66.  ' ' The  Rabsake  I  sent  to  Tyre; 
from  Metena  (JfiO)  of  Tyre  I  received  150  talents  of  gold. ' '  This 
expedition  must  have  taken  place  after  738,  for  Hiram  had  been 
succeeded  by  Metena;  but  it  is  not  possible  to  locate  it  more  defi- 
nitely. Perhaps  Tyre  had  grown  restless  under  the  rule  of  Sal- 
maneser  during  the  crisis  of  734,  and  Tiglathpileser  had  dis- 
patched the  army  to  quell  the  revolt.  Jeremias  is  inclined  to 
place  the  expedition  in  the  closing  years  of  Tiglathpileser' s  reign, 
in  728  or  727.2 

The  one  interesting  feature  in  all  these  inscriptions  is  the 
absolute  silence  of  Tiglathpileser  concerning  Sidon.  It  is  not 
credible  that  the  Assyrian  monarch,  who  is  exceedingly  careful 
in  the  enumeration  of  his  conquests,  should  have  omitted  Sidon 
in  at  least  three  separate  inscriptions  by  accident.  It  is  much 
more  natural  to  interpret  the  silence  as  an  evidence  that  at  last 
Tyre  had  succeeded  in  establishing  her  supremacy  in  southern 
Phoenicia,  and  that  at  this  time  the  king  of  Tyre  was  also  the 
king  of  Sidon,  the  royal  residence  being  in  Tyre. 

Little  can  be  learned  from  the  inscriptions  concerning  condi- 
tions in  Sidon  during  the  reign  of  Salmaneser  IV.3  This  king 
may  have  been  in  the  west  in  727,4  and  between  724  and  722  he 
warred  against  Israel,5  but,  so  far  as  we  know,  he  did  not  come 
into  direct  conflict  with  the  cities  of  Phoenicia.6  However, 
according  to  the  present  text  of  Josephus,7  Menander  places  in 
the  reign  of  Salmaneser  a  five-year  siege  of  Tyre,  during  which 
the  Assyrian  king  was  assisted  by  several  Phoenician  cities, 
among  them  Sidon.     The  account  in  Josephus  reads:  "And 


1  Eponym  canon,  year  734.  3  Tyrus  bis  zur  zeit  Nebukadnezars,  p.  29. 

3  727-722.  *  Babylonian  Chronicle,  B.,  1.  28.  5  2  K.  18  :  9,  10. 

8  The  inscription  translated  by  Winckler,  Altorientalische  Forschungen.  II,  p. 
15,  which  mentions  a  tribute  imposed  upon  Tyre  by  Salmaneser,  does  not  prove 
the  contrary.  It  refers  in  all  probability  to  a  tribute  imposed  while  he  was 
viceroy  of  Phoenicia,  during  the  reign  of  Tiglathpileser. 

7  Ant.,  IX,  14,  2. 


48  TO  THE   DESTRUCTION   OF   ESARHADDON 

Elulseus  (?  .  .  .  *7N?)  reigned  thirty-six  years  (in  Tyre).1  This 
king,  upon  the  revolt  of  the  Cittians,  sailed  against  them  and 
reduced  them  again  to  submission.  In  warring  against  him, 
.Selampsas,  the  king  of  Assyria,  overran  all  Phoenicia.  Soon,  how- 
ever, he  made  peace  and  returned  home.  Then  Sidon,  Acco,  and 
Palsetyrus  revolted,  and  many  other  cities,  that  joined  themselves 
to  the  king  of  Assyria.  Accordingly,  when  the  Tyrians  would  not 
submit  to  him,  the  king  fell  upon  them  again,  the  Phoenicians 
furnishing  sixty  ships  and  800  men  to  row  them."  The  account 
then  narrates  the  victory  of  the  Tyrian  ships  and  the  subsequent 
five-year  siege  of  the  island  Tyre. 

This  narrative  would  seem  to  lend  support  to  the  conclusion, 
drawn  from  the  inscriptions  of  Tiglathpileser,  that  Tyre  had 
acquired  the  supremacy  over  Sidon  and  other  Phoenician  cities. 


1  The  meaning  of  the  words  de/ievuv  avru  ILvag  ovo/ua,  which  follow  the  name 
"EAofAaZof,  is  uncertain.  The  grammatical  construction  is  peculiar,  and  the 
identification  of  "Elov'Xaios  with  Hvag  is  precarious.  The  words  are  omitted 
in  the  old  Latin  version,  and  should  probably  be  regarded  as  a  later  inter- 
polation. Tlvag  or  Tlvlag,  as  the  name  is  written  in  some  MSS.,  resembles  the 
Babylonian  name  Pul  =  Tiglathpileser  III,  and  v.  Landau,  Beitrage,  I,  pp. 
14,  15,  suggests  that  he  is  meant  here.  If  so,  the  words  cannot  be  in  their 
proper  place,  and  v.  Landau  places  them  after  Tvpiuv  apxaiotg  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph,  and  makes  Josephus  say  that  in  the  Tyrian  archives  the 
name  of  the  king  was  given  as  Hvlag .  If  now  ^eM/ifag  is  identical  with  Sal- 
maneser,  Josephus  names  two  distinct  kings  as  leading  the  expedition  against 
Tyre.  This  difficulty  leads  v.  Landau  to  assume  that  Josephus  combines  here 
erroneously  accounts  which  referred  to  distinct  events,  and  that  he  represents 
as  one  expedition  the  undertakings  of  two  or  more  kings.  It  is  incredible  that 
Josephus  should  make  this  blunder  with  the  two  names  before  him.  Now  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  until  the  publication  of  Niese's  text  the  name  of  the 
Assyrian  king  was  not  recognized;  on  the  other  hand,  the  old  Latin  version 
names  Salmaneser,  while  it  has  no  equivalent  of  Hi/lag .  These  facts  suggest 
the  proper  explanation.  The  authors  of  the  Latin  version  still  saw  a  proper 
name  in  ZeXafiipag,  but  soon  the  text  became  corrupted,  so  that  the  reader 
•could  recognize  no  longer  the  name  of  the  Assyrian  king.  Some  learned 
reader  sought  to  supply  the  want  by  adding  in  the  margin  the  clause  con- 
taining the  alleged  name  of  the  Assyrian  king.  This  marginal  note  was  later 
inserted  in  the  wrong  place.  It  is  not  Josephus  who  made  the  blunder,  but 
a  zealous  reader.  With  the  marginal  note  omitted,  the  reading  becomes 
natural  and  smooth. 


SALMANESER'S  attack  upon  TYRE  49 

That  the  Sidonians  should  resent  the  Tyrian  rule  is  only  natural; 
nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  why  the  Assyrian  king  should  spare  no 
efforts  to  increase  the  discontent,  break  up  the  union,  and  thus 
reduce  the  strength  of  Tyre.  Josephus  relates  how  he  succeeded 
in  separating  from  the  king  of  Tyre,  Sidon,  Acco,  and  even  Palse- 
tyrus — i.e.,  the  city  upon  the  mainland1 — and  secured  their 
support  for  the  attack  upon  the  island  Tyre.  Nevertheless, 
Tyre  was  too  strong  and  defeated  the  plans  of  the  allies. 

That  the  tradition  preserved  by  Josephus  rests  upon  historical 
facts  cannot  be  doubted;  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  seriously 
questioned,  whether  the  attack  upon  Tyre  reported  by  him  can  be 
placed  in  the  reign  of  Salmaneser.2  1.  The  form  of  the  king's 
name  is  peculiar.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  ZeXd/Mpa$  as  a  cor- 
ruption of  SaX/j.avaadprj<i  or  ZaXp.avd<T<T7)?,  the  form  used  by 
Josephus  in  other  passages.3  A  very  serious  corruption  must  be 
assumed.  Why  not  restore  Zevaxetpipo?  =  Sennacherib?4  The 
first  two  letters  of  this  name  are  identical  with  the  first  two 
letters  of  the  name  in  the  present  text.  If  Menander  wrote 
originally  Ssvazdpifios,  the  name  reached  Josephus  in  a  cor- 
rupted form.  2.  The  cautious  statement  of  Josephus  suggests 
that  he  cherished  some  doubts  on  this  point.  In  introducing 
the  quotation  he  makes  the  significant  statement  that  the  name 
of  the  king  is  preserved  in  the  Tyrian  archives.  Though  he 
evidently  identified  IeXdfj.(pa?  with  Salmaneser,  he  seems  to 
have  some  misgivings.  3.  Sennacherib  mentions  a  king  of 
Sidon  named  Luli,  which  is  the  Assyrian  form  of  'EXouXaios. 
4.  There  is  no  room  during  Salmaneser's  reign  for  the  events 
described  by  Menander.     Salmaneser  ascended  the  throne  of 


1  The  same  as  Uzu  in  the  Tel-el- Amarna  tablets;  see  above,  p.  36. 

3  George  Smith,  History  of  Sennacherib,  pp.  69, 70.  Meyer,  Gesch.  des  Alter- 
tums,  I,  p.  467.  Jeremias,  Tyrus,  p.  31ff.  V.  Landau,  Beitrage  zur  Alter- 
tumskunde  des  Orient,  I,  p.  5ff. 

3  Ant.,  IX,  13,  1;IX,  14,  1. 

4  The  fact  that  the  old  Latin  version  reads  Salmaneser — cp.  Schrader,  Z.  A., 
I,  126 — proves  nothing.  It  may  be  as  much  of  a  guess  as  the  gloss  of  the 
annotator. 


50  TO   THE   DESTRUCTION   BY  ESARHADDON 

Assyria  in  the  month  of  Tebet,  727.1  During  the  remainder  of 
the  year  he  could  not  possibly  have  "overrun  all  Phoenicia. " 
In  726  he  remained  at  home.2  In  725  or  724  he  marched  against 
Samaria  and  besieged  it.  This  struggle  demanded  his  best 
efforts  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  When  could  he  find 
the  time,  with  this  troublesome  task  on  his  hand,  or  secure  the 
resources  to  war  against  Tyre  in  the  manner  described  by 
Menander?  Besides,  he  died  in  722;  in  other  words,  while  the 
siege  of  Tyre  would  have  been  still  in  progress.  If  so,  it  is  strange 
that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  accession  of  the  usurper  Sargon. 
5.  The  events  described  by  Menander  fit  admirably  in  the  cam- 
paigns of  Sennacherib,  as  recorded  by  the  Assyrian  king;3  indeed, 
unless  we  identify  the  campaign  against  Tyre  recorded  by  Menan- 
der with  that  of  Sennacherib,  we  must  assume  that  practically 
the  same  events  took  place  twice  within  one  brief  lifetime. 

These  considerations  are  of  sufficient  weight  to  justify  the 
conclusion  that  Josephus  is  describing,  in  the  passage  quoted, 
events  which  took  place  during  the  campaigns  of  Sennacherib,4 
and  the  assumption  that  during  the  reign  of  Salmaneser  condi- 
tions in  Phoenicia  remained  as  they  were  under  Tiglathpileser 
III;  in  other  words,  Tyre  continued  to  exercise  control  over  the 
cities  in  southern  Phoenicia,  including  Sidon.  This  state  of 
affairs  continued  during  the  reign  of  Sargon  II.5  He  calls  him- 
self "the  mighty  in  battle,  who  fished  the  Ia-am-na-a-a  .... 
like  fish  out  of  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  pacified  Kue  and  Tyre."6 
The  meaning  of  the  inscription  is  somewhat  obscure;7  all  we  need 
to  note  here  is  the  silence  concerning  Sidon. 

Sidon  reappears  in  the  inscriptions  of  Sennacherib,8  in  a  manner 

1  Babylonian  Chron.,  B.,  Col.  I,  11.  27,  28. 

1  The  Eponym  canon  contains  the  note  ina  mati.  s  See  below,  p.  51f. 

*  Less  probable  is  the  view  of  v.  Landau,  Beitrdge,  p.  9ff. ;  cp.  also  Winckler, 
Altorientalische  Forschungen,  II,  p.  65ff.,  that  Josephus  refers  to  three  cam- 
paigns— the  last  campaign  of  Tiglathpileser,  the  campaign  of  Sennacherib,  and 
that  of  Esarhaddon. 

5  722-705  B.C.  8 1  R.  36, 1.21. 

7  Cp.  Winckler,  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  II,  p.  68.     1 

8  705-681  B.C. 


EXPEDITION  OF  SENNACHERIB  51 

which  gives  additional  support  to  the  view  that  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  Sidon  was  subject  to  Tyre.  The 
western  campaigns  of  the  great  king  are  recorded  in  several 
inscriptions.  Concerning  his  expedition  against  Sidon  he  says: 
' '  And  Luli,1  king  of  Sidon,  retreated  before  my  attack;  to  Cyprus, 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  he  fled,  and  sought  refuge  in  that 
country.  In  the  might  of  the  weapons  of  Asur,  my  lord,  I  took 
possession  of  his  country.  Tuba'lu  (?p2PH)  I  placed  upon  his 
royal  throne,  and  I  imposed  upon  him  the  tribute  of  my  lord- 
ship. ' n  Another  inscription  reads : ' '  From  Luli,  the  king  of  the 
city  of  Sidon,  I  took  away  his  kingship.  Tubalu  I  placed  upon  his 
throne,  and  I  imposed  upon  him  the  tribute  of  my  lordship."3  The 
most  extensive  reference  to  Sidon  is  in  the  so-called  Taylor 
Cylinder.*  There  Sennacherib  says:  "In  my  third  campaign  I 
marched  to  the  land  of  the  Hittites.  Luli,  the  king  of  Sidon, 
was  overcome  by  the  fear  of  the  splendor  of  my  royalty  and  fled 
far  away  to  the  sea,  and  there  made  his  abode.  Great  Sidon, 
Little  Sidon,  Bit-zitti,  Sarepta,  Makhalliba,  Usu,5  Ekdippa, 
Acco,  his  powerful  cities,  fortresses,  pastures,  and  cisterns,  and 
his  fortifications,  the  power  of  the  weapons  of  Asur,  my  lord, 
overcame  and  cast  at  my  feet.  Tubalu  I  placed  upon  the  royal 
throne  over  them,  and  I  imposed  upon  him  the  tribute  of  my 
lordship,  yearly  and  unchangeable."6  Among  the  kings  who 
"brought  rich  presents,  heavy  gifts,  with  merchandise,"  and 
kissed  his  feet,  he  names  Tubalu  of  Sidon.7  Additional  informa- 
tion is  furnished  by  Bull  Inscription  No.  4,  a  variant  from  which 

1  The  name  corresponds  to  the  'EXov?„aiog  of  Josephus;  see  above,  p.  48. 

2  Bull  Inscriptions  2  and  3, 11.  17-20;  see  G.  Smith,  History  of  Sennacherib, 
pp.  67,  68. 

3 1  R.  43, 11.  13,  14. 

*  See  Delitzsch,  Assyrische  Lesestilcke,  4th  ed.,  p.  54ff. 

5  The  same  as  Uzu  of  the  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets  and  Palcetyrus  of  Josephus, 
the  mainland  Tyre;  for  Great  Sidon  and  Little  Sidon  see  above,  p.  9;  Sarepta 
and  Acco  are  two  well-known  cities;  Ekdippa  (written  Ak-zi-bi)  is  situated 
on  the  coast  between  Tyre  and  Acco ;  the  location  of  the  other  two  is  not  yet 
determined. 

•  Col.  II,  11.  34-46.  7  Ibid.,  I.  48. 


52  TO   THE   DESTRUCTION   BY   ESARH ADDON 

is  given  by  G.  Smith.1  There  the  statement  is  made  that  Luli 
fled  "from  the  midst  of  Tyre  to  Cyprus,  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea. ' n  Instead  of  ' '  from  the  midst  of  Tyre, ' '  III  R.  12, 
I.  18  reads  simply  ' '  from  the  westland. ' ' 

What  seems  to  be  the  historical  situation  presented  by  these 
inscriptions?  Luli,  though  called  king  of  Sidon,  had  his  royal 
residence  in  Tyre.3  From  there  he  ruled  Tyre,  Sidon,  and  the 
other  cities  named  by  Sennacherib.  When  all  the  cities  of  Luli, 
with  the  exception  of  the  island  Tyre,  had  been  taken,  he  began 
to  fear  for  his  personal  safety  and  fled  to  Cyprus.  One  can  readily 
notice  the  striking  similarities  between  these  narratives  and  the 
account  of  Menander.  In  the  further  progress  of  the  events 
recorded  by  the  latter,  so  far  as  they  concern  Tyre,  we  have 
no  interest  here;  there  is,  however,  every  reason  to  believe  that 
the  attack  upon  Tyre,  in  which  the  king  was  aided  by  the 
Phoenician  cities,  quite  ready  to  turn  against  their  rival  and 
former  lord,  and  the  long  siege  of  the  city  took  place  subsequent 
to  the  events  recorded  by  Sennacherib.4 

The  calamity  which  befell  Tyre  at  this  time  resulted  in  good 
for  Sidon.  The  Assyrian  kings  would  find  it  advantageous  to 
play  the  western  states  against  one  another,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  formation  of  a  powerful  alliance.  It  is  not  improbable, 
therefore,  that,  temporarily  at  least,  Assyria  favored  and  encour- 
aged the  development  of  Sidon.  At  any  rate  Sidon  remained 
independent  of  Tyre;  and  it  would  seem  that  the  cities  which, 
with  Sidon,  had  formerly  belonged  to  Tyre,  were  transferred  to 
Tubalu.5 

Sometime  before  the  death  of  Sennacherib  Abdimilkuti 
(nD*7DlD^)  succeeded  Tubalu,  who  apparently  remained  faith- 
ful to  his  overlord  throughout  his  entire  reign.    Whether  or  not 

1  History  of  Sennacherib,  p.  54. 

2  Cp.  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  II,  p.  90,  note  12. 

3  Cp.  Schrader,  in  Sitzungsberichte  der  Berliner  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften, 
1892,  p.  341. 

*  On  the  subsequent  fortunes  of  Tyre  see  Jeremias,  Tyrus,  p.  34ff . 
8  Taylor  Cyl,  II,  11.  44,  45. 


SENNACHERIB  AND   ESARHADDON  53 

the  change  was  the  result  of  an  assassination  we  know  not. 
When  Sennacherib  died,  the  new  king  thought  that  an  opportune 
moment  had  arrived  to  attempt  a  revolt.  Undoubtedly  he  was 
encouraged  in  the  carrying  out  of  his  scheme  by  a  knowledge  of 
the  difficulties  which  confronted  Esarhaddon,1  the  successor  of 
Sennacherib.2  Abdimilkuti's  hopes  were  not  realized,  for  Esar- 
haddon marched  speedily  against  Sidon  and  visited  severe  pun- 
ishment upon  the  king,  the  people,  and  the  city.  In  the  record  of 
the  expedition  the  Assyrian  ruler  calls  himself  ' '  the  conqueror  of 
Sidon,  which  lies  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  the  overthrower  of  its 
dwellings. ' '  The  story  of  its  destruction  he  tells  in  these  words : 
' '  Its  walls  and  its  houses  I  tore  down  and  threw  them  into  the  sea, 
and  I  destroyed  its  site.  Abdimilkuti,  its  king,  who  before  my 
weapons  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  had  fled,  like  a  fish  from  the 
midst  of  the  sea  I  drew  him  out  and  cut  off  his  head.  His 
accumulated  property,  gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  an  elephant 
hide,  elephant  teeth,  Usu  and  Urkarinu  wood,  variegated  and 
linen  clothing  of  every  description,  the  treasure  of  his  palace, 
in  great  quantities  I  carried  away.  His  many  men,  who  were 
without  number,  oxen,  sheep,  and  asses,  I  brought  to  Assyria.  I 
assembled  the  kings  of  the  land  of  the  Hittites  and  of  the  sea 
coast.  In  another  place  I  caused  the  city  to  be  built,  and  Kar- 
Asur-ahe-iddin-na3 I  called  its  name.  The  men,  the  booty  of  my 
bow,  from  the  mountains,  and  from  the  sea  of  the  rising  of  the 
sun,  I  caused  to  dwell  there.  My  representative  and  my  gov- 
ernor I  placed  over  them.  And  Sanduarri,  king  of  the  cities  of 
Kundi  and  Sizu,  a  powerful  enemy,  who  did  not  respect  my  lord- 
ship, and  whom  had  forsaken  the  gods,  put  his  trust  into  the 
impassable  mountains,  and  Abdimilkuti,  king  of  Sidon,  went  to 
his  assistance.  The  names  of  the  great  gods  they  appealed  to 
one  by  one,4  and  they  trusted  in  their  power.  I  trusted  in  Asur, 
my  lord,  and,  like  a  bird,  from  the  midst  of  the  mountains  I  drew 


1  681-668  B.C. 

2  Rogers,  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  II,  p.  217. 

3  i.e.,  Fortress  of  Esarhaddon.  *  ana-ahamis  izkurti. 


54  TO   THE   DESTRUCTION   BY   ESARH ADDON 

him  forth  and  cut  off  his  head.  In  order  to  show  to  the  people 
the  power  of  Asur,  my  lord,  I  hung  the  heads  of  Sanduarri  and 
Abdimilkuti  upon  the  necks  of  their  great  men,  and  with  male 
singers  and  the  playing  of  instruments  I  marched  through  the 
streets  of  Nineveh."1  A  briefer  account  of  the  same  event 
reads :  ' '  Abdimilkuti,  king  of  Sidon,  who  did  not  fear  my  lord- 
ship and  did  not  regard  the  words  of  my  mouth,  who  trusted  in 
the  great  sea  and  cast  off  my  yoke,  Sidon,  the  city  of  his  con- 
fidence, which  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. '  '2  Accord- 
ing to  the  Babylonian  Chronicle  B.3  the  campaign  took  place 
in  the  fourth  year  of  Esarhaddon,  and  the  execution  of  the  kings 
in  the  following  year.  That  at  this  time  Sidon  was  independent 
of  Tyre,  and  Tyre  of  Sidon,  is  shown  by  the  mention  of  Baal,  king 
of  Tyre.4 

These  inscriptions  explain  themselves.  Esarhaddon  made  a 
complete  end  of  the  city  of  Sidon,  which  since  the  time  of  the 
Phoenician  settlement  along  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  had 
maintained  a  position  of  more  or  less  prominence.  It  was  super- 
seded by  a  new,  Assyrian,  city,  in  a  different  location,  and  in  a 
large  measure  with  a  non-Phcenician  population. 

1 1  R.  45,  Col.  1, 11.  9-53. 

2  The  sentence  is  incomplete.  Ill  R.  15,  Col.  II,  11.  27-30;  cp.  Winckler, 
Altorientalische  Forschungen,  II,  p.  15, 1.  29. 

3  Col.  IV,  B.  Iff.  4  III  R.  16,  Col.  V,  I  13. 


THE   DESTRUCTION   OF   SIDON  55 


CHAPTER  IV 

TO   THE   DESTRUCTION   OF   SIDON   BY   ARTAXERXES   OCHUS 

The  destruction  of  Sidon  by  Esarhaddon  could  not  have  been 
made  more  complete.  However,  it  is  not  probable  that  all  the 
inhabitants  were  slain  or  deported.  Many  must  have  escaped 
to  the  neighboring  cities.  This  crisis  in  the  history  of  Sidon 
offers  a  suitable  occasion  for  the  alleged  founding  of  Tyre  by  the 
Sidonians.1  Tyre  had  suffered  much  from  Sennacherib  and  his 
predecessors.  It  is  not  improbable,  therefore,  that,  secretly  at 
least,  her  sympathies  were  with  Sidon  during  the  revolt.  Only 
when  she  beheld  the  terrible  fate  of  her  sister  city,  did  her  king 
send  presents  to  Esarhaddon.2  What  would  be  more  natural 
than  that  those  inhabitants  of  Sidon  who  managed  to  escape 
should  take  refuge  in  Tyre?  These  refugees  were  of  the  better 
class  of  Sidonians,  who  in  time  came  to  occupy  positions  of 
prominence  in  their  new  home.  The  deities  and  sacred  tradi- 
tions of  their  native  city  they  carried  with  them,  and  Tyre  became 
the  sole  heir  of  everything  that  survived  the  awful  catastrophe.3 
All  the  sanctity  which  belonged  to  Sidon  as  the  first  Phoenician 
settlement  on  the  Mediterranean  coast  passed  to  Tyre,  and  there 
continued  to  live  the  best  elements  of  the  destroyed  city. 

This  transfer  can  in  no  sense  be  called  a  "founding"  of  Tyre, 
but  neither  can  the  alleged  migration  of  the  Sidonians  in  the 
twelfth  century  B.C.,4  for  then  also  Tyre  had  existed  as  a  city 

1  See  above,  p.  24. 

2  Baal  is  named  first  among  the  kings  paying  tribute,  which  may  be  an  indi- 
cation of  special  zeal  on  his  part  when  he  appeared  before  the  king.  A  guilty 
conscience  may  have  prompted  the  excessive  zeal. 

3  The  new  city  planted  by  Esarhaddon  was  not  Phoenician ;  its  population 
was  of  a  different  nationality,  which  made  it  impossible  for  it  to  become  the 
heir  of  the  religious  traditions  and  possessions  of  Sidon. 

*  Seep.  41. 


56  TO   ARTAXERXES  OCHUS 

of  prominence  for  several  centuries.  And  yet  the  migration  of 
large  numbers  of  prominent  Sidonians  and  the  transfer  of 
Sidonian  deities  and  traditions  to  Tyre  might  easily  give  rise, 
in  the  course  of  centuries,  to  a  tradition  such  as  is  preserved  by 
Justin.  If  this  interpretation  is  correct,  we  must  assume  that 
an  original  "king  of  Assyria"  was  corrupted  in  the  course  of 
transmission  into  "king  of  Ascalon."1 

The  new  city  stood  upon  the  mainland.  It  was  in  no  sense  a 
Phoenician  city;  it  had  an  Assyrian  name,  was  ruled  by  an 
Assyrian  governor,  had  a  non-Phoenician  population,2  and  there- 
fore also  non-Phoenician  deities  and  customs;  but  it  was  situated 
in  the  midst  of  powerful  Phoenician  influences,  which  it  could 
not  withstand  permanently.  Slowly  perhaps,  but  steadily,  the 
Assyrian  city  became  a  Phoenician  city,  bearing  the  familiar  name 
Sidon,  though  for  some  time  it  seems  to  have  remained  under  the 
control  of  Assyrian  governors,  who  continued  loyal  to  the  Assyr- 
ian kings  down  to  the  fall  of  the  Assyrian  power.  The  years  of 
quietness  and  peace  enabled  the  young  city  to  develop  her 
resources  and  opportunities. 

After  the  fall  of  Nineveh  in  607/606,  the  Chaldean  kingdom 
took  the  place  of  Assyria.  Unfortunately  the  inscriptions  of  the 
Chaldean  kings  say  practically  nothing  of  affairs  in  the  west. 
The  only  exception  is  a  brief  remark  of  Nebuchadrezar :  ' '  With 
his — i.e.,  Marduk's — exalted  assistance  I  penetrated  distant  lands 
and  mountain  regions,  from  the  upper  sea  to  the  lower  sea. ' '■ 
Not  once  is  Sidon  mentioned.  A  little  more  information  con- 
cerning this  period  of  Sidon' s  history  may  be  gathered  from  the 
Old  Testament.  The  prophet  Jeremiah  names  Sidon  in  three 
passages.  In  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim's  reign  he  received  the 
command  to  announce  the  exile  of  Judah,  its  restoration,  and  the 
subsequent  judgment  upon  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  this 
connection  he  mentions  ' '  all  the  kings  of  Tyre,  and  all  the  kings 


1  So  v.  Landau,  Der  Alte  Orient,  II,  4,  p.  24;  Winckler,  Altorientalische  For- 
schungen,  I,  p.  440.  <£* 

a  I  R.  45,  Col.  1, 11.  31-34.  s  I  R.  53,  Col.  II,  11.  12ff. 


THE  CHALDEAN  SUPREMACY  57 

of  Sidon."1  In  the  beginning  of  Zedekiah's  reign2  he  is  com- 
manded :  ' '  Make  thee  bonds  and  yokes,  and  put  them  upon  thy 
neck,  and  send  them  to  the  king  of  Edom,  and  to  the  king  of 
Moab,  and  to  the  king  of  the  Ammonites,  and  to  the  king  of  Tyre, 
and  to  the  king  of  Sidon,  by  the  hand  of  the  messengers  which 
have  come  to  Jerusalem  unto  Zedekiah,  king  of  Judah. '  '3  The 
symbolical  act  to  be  performed  is  interpreted  in  v.  6 :  "  And  now 
I  have  given  all  of  these  lands  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
the  king  of  Babylon,  my  servant. '  '*  The  prophet  names  Sidon 
again  in  a  message  directed  against  the  Philistines,5  in  which  he 
announces  the  cutting  off  from  Tyre  and  Sidon  of  ' '  every  helper 
that  remaineth. ' ,6 

To  a  slightly  later  period  belong  the  utterances  of  Ezekiel. 
Chapter  27  of  his  prophecies  contains  an  oracle  against  Tyre. 
Speaking  of  the  wealth  and  influence  of  Tyre,  he  calls  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Sidon  the  "mariners"  of  Tyre,  who  have  assisted  the 
latter  in  the  accumulation  of  her  riches.7  The  destruction  of 
Sidon  he  announces  in  28 :  20-23 : ' '  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  0 
Sidon;  and  I  will  glorify  myself  in  the  midst  of  thee,  and  they 
shall  know  that  I  am  Yahweh,  when  I  execute  judgment  in  her, 
and  I  shall  show  myself  holy  in  her.  Yea,  I  will  send  unto  her 
pestilence,  and  blood  into  her  streets;  and  the  slain  shall  be 
judged  in  the  midst  of  her  by  the  sword  which  is  against  her  from 
every  side,  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  Yahweh. ' '  Chapter 
32  presents  a  vision  of  Sheol,  and  of  the  nations  to  be  imprisoned 
there.  One  sentence  reads:  "There  are  the  princes  of  the 
north,  all  of  them;  and  all  the  Sidonians,  which  are  gone  down 
with  the  slain. ' '  8 

Of  these  the  only  passage  of  much  historical  importance  is  Jer. 

1  25  :  22. 

2  27  :  1.  The  present  Hebrew  text  reads:  "In  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  Jehoiakim";  but  vv.  3,  12,  20;  28  :  1  make  it  plain  that  the  beginning  of 
Zedekiah's  reign  is  meant.     The  Septuagint  omits  the  verse. 

3  27:  2,  3.  4Cp.  also  vv.  7-11. 
8  47  :  1.     This  message  was  delivered  "before  Pharaoh  smote  Gaza,"  i.e., 

probably  in  608. 

•  v.  4.  7  v.  8.  8  v.  30 


58  TO  ARTAXERXES   OCHUS 

27 :  3.  From  it  may  be  inferred  that  after  the  withdrawal  of 
Nebuchadrezar  from  Jerusalem  in  597,  and  the  accession  of 
Zedekiah,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  vassal  princes  in  the  west 
to  form  a  confederacy  against  the  Chaldean  monarch;  and  further, 
that  at  that  time  Sidon  had  recovered  sufficiently  from  the 
blow  struck  by  Esarhaddon,  less  than  a  century  before,  to  give 
to  it  a  place  by  the  side  of  Tyre,  though  it  may  not  have  been 
equally  powerful.  Indeed,  Ez.  27 : 8  implies  that  Tyre  was 
superior.  In  the  same  direction  points  the  fact  that  the  utter- 
ances of  both  prophets  against  Tyre  are  much  more  lengthy  and 
numerous  than  those  against  Sidon,  and  the  stubborn  resistance 
which  subsequently  Tyre  offered  to  the  prolonged  attacks  of 
Nebuchadrezar.1  In  addition  to  the  Biblical  statements,  one 
passage  in  Herodotus  refers  to  this  period  of  Sidonian  history. 
In  it  the  Greek  historian  relates  that  Apries,  Pharaoh  of  Egypt, 
marched  an  army  against  Sidon  and  fought  a  sea  battle  with  the 
king  of  Tyre.2 

Only  a  very  general  notion  of  the  progress  of  events  can  be 
gained  from  these  few  notes.  It  would  seem  that  down  to  the 
fall  of  the  Assyrian  empire  in  606,  or  at  least  to  the  expedition 
of  Necho  into  Phoenicia  and  Syria,  Sidon  submitted  quietly  to  the 
Assyrian  rule.  However,  after  the  death  of  Asurbanapal  in  626 
B.C.,  it  must  have  become  evident  to  all  observers  that  the 
Assyrian  supremacy  was  doomed;  hence,  when  Necho  advanced 
into  northern  Syria,  the  Phoenician  cities  must  have  felt  that 
submission  to  him  was  the  only  safe  and  wise  policy,  and  Sidon, 
with  the  other  cities,  yielded  to  him  with  very  little  opposition.3 
The  battle  of  Carchemish  resulted  in  the  withdrawal  of  Egypt 
from  western  Asia,  and  in  the  ascendency  of  the  new  Chaldean 
empire  under  Nebuchadrezar.  The  fortunes  of  the  Phoenician 
cities  could  not  be  affected  by  the  change,  and  since  there  was 

1  Josephus,  Ant.,  X,  11,  1;  cp.  Cont.  Ap.,  I,  20,  21. 

2 II,  161;  cp.  also  Diodorus,  Bibliotheca  historica,  I,  68. 

3  Fragments  of  a  stela  dating  from  Necho's  supremacy  in  Phoenicia,  and 
bearing  his  name  in  hieroglyphics  have  been  found  at  Sidon;  Breasted,  History 
of  Egypt,  p.  583.     See  further  below,  p.  152. 


EXPEDITION   OF   NEBUCHADREZAR  59 

no  special  incentive  for  them  to  adhere  to  Egypt,  they  readily 
yielded  to  the  new  master.  But  Egypt  was  not  content,  and 
immediately  the  Pharaoh  resumed  the  policy  practiced  in  past 
generations,  of  stirring  up  trouble  in  Palestine  and  Syria,  and  he 
succeeded  in  persuading  Jehoiakim  of  Judah  to  revolt.  During 
the  early  troubles  of  Judah  the  Phoenician  cities  appear  to  have 
maintained  a  neutral  attitude,  but  in  the  end  the  Egyptian 
efforts  proved  successful  there  also,  and  after  the  first  exile1  and 
the  accession  of  Zedekiah  all  the  vassal  states  in  and  around 
Palestine  were  ready  to  join  in  a  revolt  against  Nebuchadrezar.2 
In  this  the  Phoenician  cities  were  not  prompted  by  love  for 
Egypt,  but  simply  by  a  desire  to  recover  complete  political 
independence,  which  they  had  lost  to  Assyria  centuries  earlier. 
When  Nebuchadrezar  finally  turned  westward,  his  first  expedi- 
tion was  directed  against  Jerusalem.  The  Pharaoh  of  Egypt 
came  to  the  aid  of  the  city,  but  could  accomplish  nothing.3  The 
other  rebels,  whose  courage  failed  in  the  presence  of  the  great 
conqueror,  kept  aloof,  or  even  joined  the  Chaldeans  in  their 
attack  upon  Judah.4  After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and 
Nebuchadrezar's  withdrawel,  Apries  of  Egypt5  thought  that  an 
opportune  moment  had  arrived  to  punish  the  Phoenician  cities 
for  their  disloyalty  after  the  battle  of  Carchemish  and  their 
failure  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  Pharaoh  in  588.  This  punitive 
expedition  must  have  been  undertaken  in  the  years  immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Apries  conquered  the  Tyrians  at  sea 
and  took  Sidon,  whereupon  the  other  Phoenician  cities  yielded.6 
But  it  seems  that  the  Egyptians  could  not  maintain  permanently 
their  hold  on  Phoenicia,  for  shortly  afterward  Nebuchadrezar 
appeared  upon  the  scene  once  more,  fighting,  not  against  Egypt, 
but  against  Tyre,  which  at  that  time  evidently  enjoyed  complete 
independence.  The  siege  of  the  city  continued  for  thirteen  years,7 
and  the  probability  is  that  even  then  the  island  city  was  still  in 

1  In  597.  2  Jer.  27  :  Iff. ;  see  note  2  on  p.  57.  3  Jer.  37. 

4  Ez.  26  :  2.  8  588-570  B.C.  •  Diodorus,  Bibl.  hist.,  I,  68. 

7  Josephus,  Cont.  Ap.,  I,  21;  quoted  from  Menander. 


60  TO   ARTAXERXES   OCHUS 

the  hands  of  the  defenders.  Concerning  the  outcome  Ezekiel 
says : ' '  Yet  had  he  no  wages,  nor  his  army,  for  Tyre,  for  the  service 
which  he  rendered  against  her;  therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Yahweh,  behold,  I  will  give  to  Nebuchadrezar,  king  of  Babylon, 
the  land  of  Egypt. ' n  From  this  one  may  safely  infer  that  the 
city  did  not  fall  into  the  power  of  Nebuchadrezar;  at  the  same 
time,  other  statements  in  the  immediate  context  show  that  Tyre 
suffered  severe  losses.  The  outcome  was,  in  all  probability,  a 
compromise,  which  may  have  involved  a  nominal  submission 
to  the  Chaldeans  and  the  payment  of  tribute.2  Whatever  the 
exact  terms  of  peace,  the  thirteen-year  struggle  sapped  the 
resources  of  Tyre,  and  gave  Sidon  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
press  to  the  front.  The  sufferings  of  Tyre  taught  the  other 
Phoenician  cities  a  valuable  lesson,  for  during  the  remaining 
years  of  the  Chaldean  supremacy  in  western  Asia  all  appear 
to  have  borne  their  fate  patiently. 

The  Chaldean  empire  fell  before  Cyrus  in  538  B.C.,  and  its 
numerous  vassal  states  fell  into  his  hands.3  His  treatment  of 
the  Jews  is  one  illustration  of  the  leniency  which  he  showed 
toward  all  his  foreign  subjects,  and  so  far  as  Phoenicia  is  con- 
cerned his  rule  was  purely  nominal;  the  Phoenician  cities  enjoyed 
a  practical  independence,  as  they  must  have  done  under  the 
weak  successors  of  Nebuchadrezar.  Indeed,  the  relation 
between  the  early  kings  of  Persia  and  the  Phoenicians  was  more 
that  of  allies  than  of  conquerors  and  conquered.  Such  friendly 
understanding  would  prove  mutually  advantageous.  It  would 
furnish  the  Persians  with  a  fleet,  without  which  it  was  impossible 
for  the  Persian  kings  to  carry  out  their  vast  schemes;4  on  the 

1  29  :  18,  19. 

2  Cp.  Rogers,  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  II,  p.  338.  Chronological 
data  concerning  this  siege  are  nowhere  supplied.  Many  scholars  believe  that 
it  was  contemporaneous  with  the  wars  against  Judah,  and  they  date  it  598- 
585 ;  a  later  date,  585-572,  is  in  better  accord  with  the  course  of  events  during 
this  period. 

3  Xenophon,  Cyrop&dia,  I,  1,  4. 

4  The  entire  sea  service  of  Cambyses  depended  upon  the  Phoenicians ; 
Herodotus,  Historia,  III,  19. 


THE   PERSIAN   SUPREMACY  61 

other  hand,  it  would  assure  the  Phoenicians  the  protection  of  a 
powerful  empire,  which  they  needed  if  they  would  carry  out  suc- 
cessfully their  extensive  commercial  enterprises.  A  certain 
independence  of  the  Phoenicians  is  implied  in  the  respect  with 
which  the  king  treated  their  refusal  to  proceed  against  Carthage,1 
as  also  in  the  fact  that  throughout  the  entire  Persian  period  the 
Phoenician  cities  were  ruled  by  Phoenician  kings,2  though  these 
kings  paid  tribute  to  the  Persian  monarchs.3  Another  indication 
of  it  is  the  holding  of  the  annual  council  at  Tripolis,  in  which 
were  discussed,  ordinarily  without  interference  from  the  Persians, 
matters  of  interest  to  all  Phoenicians.4 

The  statements  of  ancient  classical  writers  make  it  plain  that 
during  this  entire  period  Sidon  stood  out  as  the  most  prominent 
city  of  Phoenicia.5  ' '  In  wealth  and  resources, ' '  says  Diodorus, 
1 '  Sidon  surpassed  by  far  all  the  other  Phoenician  cities. ' ,6  The 
Persian  kings  selected  Sidon  as  their  temporary  residence, 
whenever  their  duties  called  them  westward;  in  or  near  Sidon 
was  a  royal  park,  where  they  were  accustomed  to  hold  court  on 
such  occasions.7  In  war  also  Sidon  took  the  lead;  at  a  later 
time  it  was  able,  with  the  aid  of  hired  mercenaries,  to  inflict  a 
severe  defeat  upon  the  Persian  generals.8  In  the  war  against  the 
Greeks  the  eighty  vessels  of  the  Phoenicians  were  under  the 
command  of  the  king  of  the  Sidonians,9  and  in  battle  the 
Sidonians  were  the  bravest  and  most  courageous  fighters  in 
the  Persian  fleet.10 

1  Herodotus,  III,  19.  2  Ibid.,  VIII,  67.  3  Ibid.,  Ill,  91 . 

*  Diodorus,  XVI,  41.  5  Ibid.,  XVI,  44 ;  cp.  41,  45 . 

9  The  Old  Testament  contains  only  one  reference  to  the  history  of  Sidon 
during  the  early  Persian  period.  "They  (the  post-exilic  Jews)  gave  money 
also  unto  the  masons  and  carpenters,  and  food  and  drink  and  oil  unto  the 
Sidonians  and  Tyrians,  to  bring  cedar  trees  from  the  Lebanon  by  sea  to  Joppa, 
according  to  the  decree  which  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  had  given  to  them"; 
Ezra  3:7.  The  mention  of  Sidon  before  Tyre — cp.  also  1  Chr.  22  : 4 — is  in 
perfect  accord  with  the  historical  situation  during  the  Persian  period,  when 
Sidon  was  the  more  prominent  city. 

7  Diodorus,  Bibliotheca  historica,  XVI,  41. 

8  Ibid.,  XVI,  42;  see  further  below,  p.  65. 

8  Ibid.,  XIV,  79.  10  Ibid.,  XI,  13 


62  TO   ARTAXERXES   OCHUS 

Herodotus  also  frequently  alludes  to  the  preeminence  of  Sidon. 
When  Democedes  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Greece  as  the  guide 
of  the  Persians,  ' '  the  men  went  down  to  Phoenicia,  to  Sidon,  the 
Phoenician  city,  where  straightway  they  fitted  out  two  triremes 
and  a  trading  vessel."1  Sidon  seems  to  have  been  at  that  time 
a  common  starting  point  for  Persian  ships.  While  at  Abydos, 
Xerxes  ordered  his  ships  to  engage  in  a  sailing  match,  which  was 
won  by  the  Phoenicians  of  Sidon,  much  to  the  joy  of  Xerxes.2 
The  superiority  of  the  Sidonians  is  emphasized  again  in  another 
passage : ' '  The  Phoenician  ships  were  the  best  sailers  in  the  fleet, 
and  the  Sidonian  the  best  among  the  Phoenician. ' ,3  Among 
the  most  renowned  leaders  of  the  Persian  fleet,  next  to  the 
commanders,  is  named  in  first  place  Tetramnestos,  the  son  of 
Anysos  the  Sidonian.4  The  excellence  of  the  Sidonian  ships  is 
emphasized  once  more  when  it  is  said  of  the  five  triremes  fur- 
nished by  Artemisia,  that  next  to  the  Sidonian  these  were  the 
most  famous  ships  in  the  fleet.5  Because  of  this  superior  excel- 
lence Xerxes  embarked  ordinarily  in  a  Sidonian  vessel.  "He 
exchanged  his  chariot  for  a  Sidonian  galley  and,  seated  beneath 
a  golden  awning,  sailed  along  the  prows  of  all  the  vessels."8 
* '  Embarking,  as  was  his  wont,  aboard  a  Sidonian  vessel. '  '7  The 
king  of  Sidon  occupied  the  first  place  among  the  vassals  of 
Xerxes.  "So  he  came  and  seated  himself  in  the  seat  of  honor ; 
and  the  sovereigns  of  the  nations,  and  the  captains  of  the  ships, 
were  summoned  to  appear  in  his  presence;  and  as  they  arrived 
they  took  their  seats  according  to  the  rank  assigned  to  them 
by  the  king.  In  the  first  seat  sat  the  king  of  Sidon;  after  him, 
the  king  of  Tyre;  then  the  rest  in  their  order."8 

The  passages  to  which  reference  has  been  made  mention 
specifically  Sidon  or  the  Sidonians.  In  addition,  many  refer- 
ences are  found  to  the  Phoenicians  in  general,  who  were  of  much 
service  to  the  Persians  in  all  their  enterprises,  but  especially  in 

1  Herodotus,  III,  136.  2  Ibid.,  VII,  44. 

\Ibid.,  VII,  96;  cp.  Diodorus,  XI,  13.                                     *  Ibid.,  VII,  98. 

8  Ibid.,  VII,  99.  •  Ibid.,  VII,  100. 

7  Ibid.,  VII,  128.  8  Ibid.,  VIII,  67. 


PREEMINENCE  OF  SIDON  63 

the  Grecian  wars.  In  many  cases  Sidonians  must  be  included 
in  the  more  comprehensive  term  Phoenicians.  From  these 
specific  statements,  and  from  others  of  a  more  general  character, 
it  may  be  safely  inferred  that  for  about  two  centuries  after  the 
siege  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadrezar,  Sidon  occupied  the  first  place 
among  the  cities  of  Phoenicia.1  In  a  large  measure  this  was  due 
to  the  losses  suffered  by  Tyre  during  the  thirteen-year  siege; 
a  partial  explanation  may  be  found  also  in  the  composite  char- 
acter of  the  population  of  the  city  established  by  Esarhaddon.2 

When  in  the  early  years  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  the  Per- 
sians interfered  in  the  quarrels  which  broke  out  between  the 
Grecian  states,  the  Phoenicians  again  played  a  prominent  part. 
In  394,  in  the  naval  battle  of  Cnidus,  the  presence  of  Phoenician 
ships  enabled  the  Athenians  to  recover  the  naval  supremacy  lost 
at  iEgos-Potami;3  and  the  demands  of  the  Persian  king  in  the 
' '  peace  of  Antalcidas, ' '  in  387,  were  complied  with  because  the 
Greeks  knew  that  he  was  able  to  enforce  them  by  means  of  the 
Phoenician  fleet.  To  services  such  as  were  rendered  at  Cnidus 
must  be  traced,  in  part  at  least,  the  good  feeling  between  Phoe- 
nicia and  Greece,  especially  Athens,  evidences  of  which  begin 
to  show  themselves  during  the  fourth  century  B.C.  The 
Athenians  would  be  prompted  by  a  sense  of  gratitude  and  by  the 
hope  that  in  future  struggles  they  might  win  the  support  of  the 
Phoenicians.  On  the  other  hand,  the  latter  were  beginning  to 
grow  restless  under  the  Persian  rule.  If  it  should  come  to  a 
struggle  with  Persia,  an  alliance  with  the  Greeks  was  not  to  be 
despised.  Besides,  their  commercial  interests  might  be  ad- 
vanced by  a  closer  union.     The  extent  of  the  Persian  empire  to 

1  Kenrick  says  (Phoenicia,  p.  406) :  "In  the  incidental  mention  of  Phoenician 
affairs  we  thus  gain  from  the  Greek  historians,  Tyre  appears  as  the  predominant 
state  in  naval  strength,  while  Sidon  was  the  most  flourishing  and  wealthy. ' ' 
The  testimony  of  the  ancient  writers  shows  that  in  naval  affairs  also  Sidon 
had  surpassed  Tyre. 

1  That  the  influence  of  the  Assyrian  colonists  was  felt  for  centuries  is  seen 
from  the  presence  of  elements  representing  the  names  of  Assyrian  deities  in 
names  of  Sidonians  belonging  to  a  much  later  period.     See  below,  p.  125ff. 

3  Diodorus,  XIV,  83. 


64  TO  ARTAXERXES  OCHUS 

India  gave  new  impetus  to  the  commerce  between  the  Orient 
and  the  Occident.  The  Phoenicians  were  the  commercial  media- 
tors;1 hence  the  maintenance  of  pleasant  relations  with  pros- 
pective customers  in  the  west  was  an  important  consideration 
with  all  the  coast  cities  of  Phoenicia.  It  was  at  about  this  time 
that  Phoenicians  began  to  settle  in  large  numbers  in  Attica,  par- 
ticularly at  Phalerum  and  the  Piraeus,  where  they  had  their  own 
places  of  worship  and  interment.3  In  the  establishment  of  these 
colonies  and  of  the  better  relations  in  general  the  Sidonians  had 
an  important  part.  Of  the  six  Phoenician  sepulchral  inscriptions 
found  in  Athens  and  the  Piraeus,3  three  commemorate  persons 
belonging  to  families  of  Sidonians.4 

To  the  same  general  period  belongs  the  decree  of  the  Council 
of  Athens,5  which  establishes  the  relation  of  Proxenia  between 
Strato  (mntPyDy),  king  of  Sidon,  and  the  Athenian  people, 
and  exempts  all  Sidonians  in  Attica  from  the  tax  usually  imposed 
upon  foreigners,  from  the  obligation  of  the  Choregia,  and  from 
all  other  contributions  to  the  State.  This  is  the  same  Strato  as 
the  king  of  Sidon  of  whose  luxury  and  extravagance  speak 
Theopompos8  and  iElianus.7  The  latter  says:  "One  singer  was 
not  enough  for  Strato,  to  entertain  him  with  his  melody  at  the 
banquet  table;  hence  there  appeared  a  multitude  of  female  sing- 
ers and  players  of  the  flute,  concubines  of  the  most  beautiful 
form,  and  dancers.  He  also  did  his  best  to  surpass  Nicocles,8  as 
the  latter  sought  to  surpass  him.  But  these  two  vied  with  one 
another  not  in  a  matter  of  importance;  no,  only  in  that  of  which 
I  have  spoken. ' ' 

Toward  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  the  power  of  the  Persians 
began  to  decline,  and  in  a  little  while  the  loyalty  of  Phoenicia 
commenced  to  waver.     It   is  not  impossible   that  Phoenicia 

1  See  below,  p.  114ff. 

2  An  altar  found  at  the  Pirseus  also  witnesses  to  the  presence  of  Phoenicians 
there.    C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  118. 

3  C.  I.  S.,  1, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121.  4  C.  I.  S.,  1, 115, 116,  119. 
8  C.  I.  G.,  I,  87;  C.  I.  A.,  II,  86.  •  Fragment  126,  ed.Wichers,  p.  35. 
7  Varia  historia,  VII,  2.  8  King  of  Salamis. 


REVOLT  OF  SIDON  65 

sympathized  with  the  revolt  which  Euagoras  raised  in  Cyprus  in 
392  or  391,1  though  it  did  not  rebel  openly  until  362.2  In  this 
revolt  Strato  became  involved,  and  when  it  broke  down  his 
life  was  in  danger.  That  he  might  not  be  taken  by  the  Persians, 
he  determined  to  take  his  own  life.  At  the  last  moment  he 
hesitated;  then  his  wife,  knowing  that  no  time  could  be  lost, 
wrested  the  weapon  from  his  hand  and  pierced  his  side.3  More 
serious  trouble  arose  about  ten  years  later,  during  the  reign  of 
Artaxerxes  Ochus.  At  the  annual  council  of  the  Phoenicians  at 
Tripolis  the  Persian  satraps  and  generals  treated  the  Sidonians 
with  such  arrogance  that  they  decided  to  break  away  from  the 
Persians.  The  other  Phoenician  states  were  persuaded  to  join, 
and  Nectanebus  of  Egypt  promised  his  support.  Extensive 
preparations  were  made  for  the  ensuing  struggle.  Many  triremes 
were  gathered;  mercenaries  were  secured;  arms,  provisions,  and 
everything  else  that  was  needed  were  speedily  procured.  The 
first  act  of  hostility  was  the  cutting  down  of  the  trees  in  the 
royal  park  in  or  near  Sidon;  then  the  hay  stored  for  the  use  of  the 
Persian  cavalry  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  Persians  who  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  outrages  against  the  Sidonians  were  punished. 

When  the  news  of  the  revolt  reached  the  ears  of  the  king,  he 
uttered  threats  against  all  the  Phoenicians,  and  especially 
against  the  Sidonians.  As  soon  as  he  could  collect  his  forces,  he 
set  out  from  Babylon  with  an  army  consisting  of  300,000  footmen 
and  30,000  horsemen,  besides  a  great  number  of  ships.4  While 
he  was  still  on  the  march,  two  Persian  satraps,  Belesys  of  Syria 
and  Mazseus  of  Cilicia,  attacked  the  Phoenicians;  but  Tennes,5  the 
king  of  Sidon,  with  the  aid  of  Greek  mercenaries  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Mentor  of  Rhodes,  who  had  been  furnished  by  the  king 
of  Egypt,  inflicted  a  severe  defeat  upon  them  and  drove  them 
from  Phoenicia.    Then  the  kings  of  Cyprus  revolted,  but  before 

1  Rawlinson,  History  of  Phoenicia,  p.  500.  J  Diodorus,  XV,  90. 

3  Jerome,  adv.  Jovinianus,  I,  45.  *  Diod.,  XVI,  40. 

6  On  the  coins  of  Tennes  appear  the  two  letters  #J\  See  below,  p.  158. 
What  they  stand  for  is  not  certain  ;  perhaps  they  form  the  first  letters  of  the 
two  elements  of  which  the  name  is  composed,  mntyy-jn  ?    M 


66  TO   ARTAXERXES  OCHUS 

they  could  send  aid  to  the  rebels  on  the  mainland  they  were 
pressed  by  the  Persian  armies. 

When  Tennes  heard  of  the  approach  of  Artaxerxes  at  the  head 
of  a  powerful  army,  he  lost  heart  and  became  troubled  about  his 
own  personal  safety.  Secretly  he  dispatched  a  trusty  servant 
to  the  Persian  king  with  an  offer  that  he  would  deliver  up  Sidon 
and  aid  the  king  in  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  if  he  would  spare  his 
life.  Meanwhile  the  Sidonians  lost  no  time.  They  stored  in  the 
city  provisions  and  arms  in  abundance;  they  strengthened  the 
walls  of  the  city,  and  beyond  them  they  dug  threefold  trenches. 
The  city  was  defended  by  large  numbers  of  well-equipped  and 
well-trained  native  soldiers  and  hired  mercenaries.  In  the  harbor 
lay  more  than  a  hundred  triremes  and  quinqueremes. 

Mentor  had  been  persuaded  to  become  a  party  to  the  treachery 
of  Tennes.  While  he  was  left  in  the  city  to  carry  out  the  plans 
there,  the  latter  went  out  under  the  pretext  that  he  was  going 
to  a  general  council  of  the  Phoenicians.  Under  the  same  pretext 
he  took  with  him  one  hundred  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 
Sidon.  As  they  neared  the  camp  of  the  king,  he  ordered  the 
arrest  of  the  one  hundred  and  delivered  them  to  Artaxerxes,  who 
ordered  them  slain.  When  the  soldiers  accompanying  Tennes 
became  aware  of  the  treachery  they  prayed  for  mercy,  but  the 
Persian  king,  who  desired  to  set  a  terrible  example,  paid  no  heed. 
On  the  approach  of  the  king  the  mercenaries  opened  the  gate  for 
him,  but  when  Artaxerxes  had  become  master  of  the  city  and 
had  no  further  use  for  Tennes,  he  ordered  the  traitor  killed. 

When  the  Sidonians,  who  had  meanwhile  given  orders  that  all 
the  ships  in  the  harbor  should  be  burned,  so  that  no  one  might 
be  tempted  to  run  away,  saw  the  treachery,  they,  with  their 
wives  and  children,  shut  themselves  up  into  their  houses  and 
set  fire  to  them.  More  than  forty  thousand  persons  are  said 
to  have  perished  in  the  flames.1  The  ruins  the  king  sold  for  a 
big  sum  of  money,  for  it  was  thought  that  much  gold  and  silver 
would  be  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  wealthy  city.    When  the  other 

1  Is.  23  :  4,  12,  may  reflect  this  calamity." 


FALL  OF  THE  CITY  67 

Phoenician  cities  heard  of  the  terrible  fate  of  Sidon  they  gave 
up  all  resistance.1 

This  awful  calamity  made  an  end  of  the  second  city  of  Sidon  in 
351  B.C. 

1  Diodorus,  XVI,  41-45. 


68  TO  THE   BEGINNING   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

CHAPTER  V 

TO   THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE   CRUSADES 

Either  the  account  of  Diodorus  is  fearfully  exaggerated,  or 
the  men  who  settled  upon  the  ruins  were  men  of  extraordinary 
genius  and  energy.  At  any  rate,  in  less  than  twenty  years  the 
city  was  rebuilt,  commerce  resumed,  the  ancient  prosperity 
recovered,  and  Sidon  was  once  more  a  city  of  prominence. 

Meanwhile  a  dark  cloud  had  arisen  on  the  western  horizon, 
which  was  about  to  break  into  a  tempest  which  in  a  short  time 
would  sweep  away  the  Persian  empire.  As  early  as  338  Philip 
of  Macedonia  had  planned  an  expedition  against  Persia,  and 
one  of  the  first  acts  of  Alexander  after  ascending  the  throne,  in 
336,  was  to  demand  that  he  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  expedi- 
tion which  had  been  delayed.1  In  334  he  crossed  the  Hellespont 
into  Asia.  The  first  engagement  with  the  Persians  was  fought 
on  the  banks  of  the  Granicus  and  resulted  in  a  victory  for 
Alexander.  Toward  the  close  of  the  following  year,  after  Asia 
Minor  had  submitted  to  the  Macedonian  conqueror,  the  two 
armies  met  again  at  Issus,  and  again  the  Persians  suffered  a 
decisive  defeat.  Phoenicia  was  a  formidable  foe  on  account  of 
its  powerful  navy,  which  was  still  at  the  command  of  the  Per- 
sian king,  who  might  use  it  for  an  attack  upon  the  coast  of  Greece. 
If  Alexander  could  attach  this  navy  to  himself,  he  would 
strengthen  thereby  his  own  position  on  the  sea,  and  at  the  same 
time  would  free  his  homeland  from  a  threatening  danger.  Accord- 
ingly, after  sending  a  detachment  of  troops  into  Syria,  he  him- 
self proceeded  in  the  direction  of  Phoenicia.  The  Phoenicians 
saw  that  they  must  choose  quickly  between  Alexander  and  the 
Persians,  and  almost  without  exception  they  cast  their  lot  with 
the  former.    Strato  of  Arados  surrendered  Arados,  Marathos, 

1  Arrianus,  Anabasis,  I,  1. 


CONQUESTS  OF   ALEXANDER  69 

Sigon,  Mariamne,  and  all  his  other  possessions.1  Byblos  and 
Sidon,  which  had  much  reason  to  hate  the  Persians,  and  had 
everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by  the  change,  received 
him  with  open  arms.2  Tyre  alone  resisted,  but  after  a  seven 
months'  siege  it  was  taken  and  terribly  punished.3  The  siege 
was  directed  from  Sidon,4  and  the  Sidonians  furnished  some 
assistance  to  the  Macedonians;5  but  when  the  city  was  finally 
taken,  many  of  the  Tyrians  "were  saved  by  the  Sidonians,  who 
constituted  a  part  of  Alexander's  force.  The  latter  had  entered 
the  city  with  the  victors,  but  remembering  their  relationship 
with  the  Tyrians — inasmuch  as  they  believed  Agenor  to  have 
founded  both  cities — they  offered  protection  to  a  number  of  the 
citizens,  took  them  on  board  their  ships,  and  secretly  conveyed 
them  to  Sidon.    Fifteen  thousand  were  thus  saved."8 

An  interesting  story  is  told  by  Curtius7  concerning  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  new  king  in  Sidon :  ' '  Strato,  its  king,  was  secretly  sold 
to  the  Persians,  because  his  recent  submission  had  been  more  of  a 
temporizing  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  his  subjects  than  a 
voluntary  act;  for  which  reason  Alexander  deemed  him  un- 
worthy of  the  throne.  Whereupon  the  Macedonian  victor 
authorized  Hepheestion  to  raise  to  the  vacant  throne  the  individ- 
ual among  the  Sidonians  who  was  most  distinguished  by  merit. 
Now  Hephsestion  lodged  and  was  entertained  at  the  home  of  two 
brothers,  young  men  of  brilliant  reputation  among  their  fellow- 
citizens.  To  these  he  offered  the  kingship,  but  they  successively 
refused  it,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
country  to  elevate  to  that  dignity  any  other  than  a  member  of 
the  royal  family.  Hephsestion,  admiring  the  greatness  of  soul 
which  induced  them  to  reject  that  which  to  obtain  others  employ 
fire  and  slaughter,  spoke  thus :  '  Cultivate  those  virtuous  prin- 
ciples, till  now  without  example,  through  which  you  are  able  to 

1  Arrianus,  II,  13. 

2  Ibid.,  II,  15;  Curtius,  IV,  3;  cp.  Josephus,  Ant.,  XI,  8,  3. 

8  Arrianus,  II,  15ff. ;  Curtius,  IV,  7ff.;  Diodorus,  XVII,  40ff. 

1  Arrianus,  II,  19,  20.  B  Ibid.,  II,  20;  Curtius,  IV,  18. 

•  Curtius,  IV,  18.  7  Ibid.,  IV,  3,  4. 


70  TO   THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES 

perceive  how  much  better  it  is  to  reject  a  diadem  than  to  accept 
it.  Name,  however,  some  person  of  the  royal  family  who  may 
remember  when  he  is  king  that  he  is  indebted  to  you  for  his 
power.'  Now  they  knew  of  many  who  courted  servilely  the 
favorites  of  Alexander  and  grasped  ambitiously  after  the 
dazzling  prize  with  impatient  solicitude,  but  they  announced  that 
no  one  deserved  it  more  than  Abdalominus,1  who,  though  re- 
motely related  to  the  royal  family,  was  so  reduced  in  circum- 
stances that  he  worked  in  the  suburbs  as  a  gardener  for  a  small 
stipend.  As  is  not  uncommon,  his  penury  was  the  result  of  his 
uprightness.  Intent  upon  his  daily  labor,  he  had  not  yet  become 
aware  of  the  clashing  of  arms  which  shook  all  Asia. 

"  Suddenly  the  two  disinterested  Sidonians,  bearing  the  robes 
and  insignia  of  royalty,  entered  the  garden  where  Abdalominus 
was  rooting  up  the  weeds.  After  saluting  him  as  king,  one  of 
them  addressed  him:  'This  splendid  dress  I  bring  in  exchange 
for  your  sordid  covering.  Wash  from  your  body  its  accustomed 
dirt.  Assume  the  mind  of  a  king;  but  in  your  dignity,  which  is 
well  merited,  retain  your  frugality  and  moderation;  and  when 
seated  on  the  throne,  holding  the  life  and  death  of  the  citizens 
in  your  power,  do  not  forget  the  condition  in  which  you  were 
when  a  sceptre  was  placed  in  your  hand,  nor  the  purpose  for  which 
you  are  appointed  king. '  This  address  affected  Abdalominus  as 
a  dream.  Recovering  himself,  he  asked  them  if  they  were  in 
their  senses;  then,  how  they  could  ridicule  him  so  wantonly. 
In  the  stupor  of  surprise  and  doubt  he  made  no  effort  to  restore 
himself  to  beauty  and  cleanliness;  passively  he  submitted  to  the 
necessary  ablutions,  and  to  be  clothed  in  an  embroidered  mantle 
of  purple  and  gold.  Induced  by  their  oaths  to  believe  that  they 
were  in  earnest,  and  that  they  were  authorized  to  make  him  king, 
he  at  length  permitted  them  to  conduct  him  to  the  palace. 
Rumor  quickly  circulated  the  news  of  the  transaction.  Some 
were  pleased,  others  were  indignant.  The  opulent  acrimoniously 
displayed  to  Alexander's  friends  the  low  occupation  and  the 

1  Called  also  Abdalonimus,  which  is  more  accurate;  in  Phoenician  DjSjn3j\ 


ABDALOMINUS  MADE  KING  71 

poverty  of  Abdalominus.  Alexander  ordered  him  to  be  brought 
in  his  presence.  After  he  had  surveyed  him  carefully,  he  said: 
'My  friend,  your  manner  and  bearing  are  not  at  variance  with 
the  account  of  your  extraction.  Allow  me,  therefore,  to  inquire 
with  what  degree  of  contentment  you  bore  indigence.'  Abda- 
lominus replied:  'Would  to  God  I  may  bear  the  weight  of  a 
kingdom  with  equal  tranquility.  These  hands  ministered 
sufficiently  to  my  necessities.  I  possessed  nothing;  I  wanted 
nothing.'  The  Macedonian  king,  perceiving  in  this  answer  the 
expression  of  a  noble  spirit,  not  only  ordered  that  the  royal 
possessions  of  Strato  should  be  delivered  to  Abdalominus,  but 
in  addition  enriched  him  with  presents  of  the  Persian  plunder, 
and  annexed  to  his  jurisdiction  as  king  of  Sidon  a  contiguous 
tract  of  country. '  n 

The  Phoenician  cities  remained  loyal  to  Alexander  up  to  the 
close  of  his  life;  Phoenicians  accompanied  his  armies  for  purposes 
of  trading,  and  Phoenician  ships  proved  of  great  value  to  him  in 
his  military  enterprises.2 

After  the  death  of  Alexander,  Syria,  including  Phoenicia,  fell 
to  Laomedon,3  who  was  displaced  by  Ptolemy  of  Egypt  in  320.4 
Five  years  later  he  was  supplanted  by  Antigonus.5  All  of  the 
cities  of  Phoenicia  welcomed  the  latter  gladly,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Tyre,  which  was  occupied  after  a  siege  lasting  fifteen 
months,  during  which  Antigonus  had  the  support  of  the  other 
Phoenician  cities.  Shipyards  were  established  at  Sidon,  Beyrut, 
and  Tripolis,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  ships  constructed 
in  these  places 6  Tyre  was  reduced.7  Notwithstanding 
these  successes  of  Antigonus,  the  struggle  between  him  and 

1  The  same  story  is  told  in  Justin,  XI,  10;  cp.  also  some  MSS.  of  Pollux,  VI, 
19;  but  in  Diodorus,  XVII,  46, 47,  it  is  transferred  to  Tyre;  in  Plutarch,  de  Alex- 
andri  fortuna,  II,  8,  to  Paphos.  The  king  of  Tyre  at  this  time  was  Azemilkus 
(■praiy),  who  was  pardoned  by  Alexander — Arr.,  II,  24;  therefore  Diodorus 
cannot  be  right.  Doubt  is  thrown  upon  the  correctness  of  Plutarch's  state- 
ment by  the  fact  that  none  of  the  original  biographers  of  Alexander  ever  speak 
of  him  as  having  been  in  Paphos. 

2  Arrianus,  VII,  19.  3  Diodorus,  XVIII,  3.  4  Ibid.,  XVIII,  43. 
s  Ibid.,  XIX,  58.                      6  Ibid.,  XIX,  58.  7  Ibid.,  XIX,  61. 


72  TO   THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE   CRUSADES 

Ptolemy  continued  for  many  years.  In  312  Ptolemy  came  once 
more  into  possession  of  Phoenicia,  but  almost  immediately  he 
was  displaced  again  by  his  foe.1  An  attack  made  by  the  latter 
upon  Egypt  in  307  failed,  and  soon  afterward  the  sea  coast  of 
Phoenicia,  with  the  exception  of  Sidon,  fell  again  into  the  hands 
of  Ptolemy.  He  proceeded  to  reduce  it,  but  when  the  rumor 
reached  him  that  Antigonus  had  been  successful  against  Seleucus, 
and  was  now  on  his  way  into  Syria,  he  made  a  truce  with  the  city 
and  returned  to  Egypt.2  When  Antigonus  died,  portions  of 
Phoenicia,  including  Sidon,  passed  to  his  son  Demetrius.  Seleu- 
cus demanded  the  surrender  of  these,  and  a  prolonged  struggle 
arose,  which  resulted  finally  in  Phoenicia  becoming  a  province 
of  Egypt,3  and  it  remained  an  Egyptian  dependency  until  197 
B.C.4  Even  before  the  last  mentioned  date  several  attempts 
were  made  by  the  Seleucidae  to  recover  Syria  and  Phoenicia. 
Antiochus  the  Great  came  near  the  goal  in  218,  when 
treachery  deliverd  Tyre  and  Acco  into  his  hands,  and  the  Egyp- 
tian commander  was  defeated  and  compelled  to  take  refuge  in 
Sidon.5  However,  in  the  succeeding  year  the  fortunes  of  war 
turned,  Antiochus  suffered  a  severe  defeat,  and  Egypt  remained 
in  possession.  In  203  Antiochus  renewed  the  attempt.  At  first 
the  Egyptians  were  successful,  under  the  leadership  of  Scopas, 
but  finally  they  were  routed  at  Panium,6  and  shut  up  in  Sidon, 
where  they  were  compelled  to  surrender.7 

Under  the  sovereignty  of  the  Ptolemies  Sidon  was  permitted 
to  retain  the  kingship,  and  on  the  whole  the  period  was  one  of 
prosperity.  The  yoke  of  Egypt  rested  but  lightly  upon  the 
cities  of  Phoenicia,  for  the  Pharaoh  recognized  the  advantage 
of  having  the  good  will  of  the  coast  cities,  whose  ships  and  sailors 
would  be  of  inestimable  value  in  times  of  war.    The  latter  part 

1  Diodorus,  XIX,  86.  2  Ibid.,  XX,  113. 

3  Plutarch,  Vit.  Demetr.,  32.  The  date  of  this  event  is  still  under  dispute. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  it  occurred  during  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  I.  Cp. 
Mahaffy,  The  Empire  of  the  Ptolemies,  p.  131 ;  Bevan,  House  of  Seleucus,  1, 233. 

4  Polybius,  Histories,  XVI,  18.     Joseph.,  Ant.,  XII,  3,  3. 

6  Polybius,  V,  69, 70.  B  Ibid.,  XVI,  18.  7  Jerome,  on  Dan.  11 :  15. 


THE   EGYPTIAN  SUPREMACY  73 

of  the  fourth  century  and  the  first  part  of  the  third  century 
offer  the  most  suitablejplace  for  the  dynasty  of  Esmunazar,  four 
at  least  of  whose  rulers  are  known  from  the  inscriptions.1  The 
first  king  whose  name  has  been  preserved  is  Esmunazar  I.,  in  all 
probability  the  son  and  successor  of  Abdalominus — named  by 
his  father  *W,T  JDt^N,  i.e.,  Esmun  helps,  in  grateful  recogni- 
tion of  the  honor  bestowed  upon  him  by  Alexander.2  Of  his 
reign  nothing  is  known.  He  was  succeeded'  by  his  son  Tabnit, 
who  calls  himself  the  priest  of  Astart.  He  reigned  only  a  little 
while,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Esmunazar  II.,  who,  being 
still  a  child,  had  as  co-regent  his  mother  Em- Astart.  During  their 
reign  of  fourteen  years  the  dominion  of  Sidon  was  extended 
over  Dor  and  Joppa.  "In  compensation  for  the  heavy  price 
paid  by  me,  the  lord  of  kings3  bestowed  upon  us  Dor  and  Joppa, 
the  magnificent  grain  districts  in  the  plain  of  Sharon,  and  we 
added  them  to  the  territory,  so  that  they  became  forever  the 
possession  of  the  Sidonians. '  '*  The  details  of  this,  transaction 
are  obscure.  It  cannot  be  shown,  nor  is  it  probable,  that  the 
cities  were  given  to  Esmunazar  in  return  for  services  rendered  in 
war.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  Esmunazar's  share  consisted 
in  the  payment  of  a  large  amount  of  money.  Dor,  and  perhaps 
also  Joppa,  had  belonged  to  Sidon  previous  to  the  conquests  of 
Alexander;5  there  is  no  indication  that  he  took  away  any  of 
Sidon's  possessions;  on  the  contrary,  the  tradition  is  that  he 
enlarged  the  territory  of  Abdalominus.6  It  is  easy  to  see  how, 
during  the  troublesome  period  subsequent  to  Alexander's  death, 
the  claims  of  Sidon  might  be  disregarded.  But  the  possessions 
in  the  fertile  plain  of  Sharon  were  too  valuable  to  be  given  up 
without  a  struggle;  hence  Esmunazar  and  his  mother,  in  order 
to  substantiate  and  reinforce  their  claims,  paid  an  adequate 
sum  of  money  to  the  Egyptian  king,  who  confirmed  their  claims 
in  return.     Only  then  were  they  free  to  incorporate  the  cities 

1  The  date  of  the  dynasty  is  discussed  more  fully  on  p.  148ff . 
a  See  above,  p.  71.  s  The  king  of  Egypt;  see  below,  p.  150. 

«  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3, 11. 18,  19.  6  Scylax,  Periplus,  ed.  Hudson,  p.  42. 

*  See  above,  p.  71,  the  closing  sentence  of  the  narrative  of  Curtius. 


74  TO   THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES 

into  their  kingdom  "forever."  Within  the  city  itself  the  two 
rulers  engaged  in  extensive  building  enterprises.  The  temples 
destroyed  in  351  were  not  yet  rebuilt  in  their  former  splendor, 
and  Esmunazar  and  his  mother  sought  to  win  the  favor  of  the 
chief  deities  of  the  city  by  restoring  their  ancient  dwelling 
places.1  Esmunazar  died  while  he  was  still  a  young  man,2  and 
was  succeeded  by  Bod-Astart,  who  erected  a  magnificent  temple 
for  Esmun  on  the  south  side  of  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly.  The  ruins 
of  this  temple  reveal  the  fact  that  the  building  was  completed 
in  two  stages,  separated  from  each  other  by  a  number  of  years, 
but  both  belonging  to  the  reign  of  Bod-astart,  an  indication 
that  his  reign  continued  for  many  years.3  He  had  a  son  Sedek- 
yathon,  who,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  ascended  the 
throne,  perhaps  because  he  preceded  his  father  to  the  grave. 
When  the  ruling  dynasty  died  out,  the  Pharaoh,  Ptolemy  II, 
placed  upon  the  throne  of  Sidon  his  or/oar^rf?,  Philocles, 
the  son  of  Apollodorus  (ffi*£)t5H)4  who  had  rendered  valuable 
services  to  the  king.  This  happened  about  280  B.C.5  At  about 
this  time  a  Sidonian  Apollonides,  the  son  of  Demetrius,  received 
the  honor  of  proxenos  and  benefactor,  and  the  right  to  acquire 
landed  property  in  Attica,  for  services  rendered  to  Attic  merchants 
and  sailors.6    This  Apollonides  has  been  identified  with  the  father 

1  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3,  11.  15-18. 

1  But  not  a  mere  child;  see  Lidzbarski,  Ephemeris,  I,  p.  150. 

1  Mitteilungen  der  Vorder-Asiat.  Ges.,  1905,  p.  Iff. 

*  C.  I.  A.,  II,  No.  1371 ;  Bulletin  de  corresp.  hell.,  IV,  327ff.,  where  it  is  shown 
that  Philocles  should  be  connected  with  Ptolemy  II  rather  than  with  Ptolemy 
I,  and  where  his  date  is  placed  between  306  and  266.  Also  XIV,  407,  409.  In 
Bulletin  de  corr.  hell.,  XV,  137,  an  earlier  date  is  suggested;  cp.  also  EncycL 
Bibl.,  art.  Phoenicia,  but  the  date  given  above  is  to  be  preferred. 

6  To  this  event  refers  Theocritus,  Idyl.,  XVII,  I.  110,  and  not,  as  Clermont- 
Ganneau  thinks,  to  the  giving  of  Dor  and  Joppa  to  Esmunazar.  Cp.  Cler.- 
Gan.  in  Annales  du  Musee  Guimet,  X,  p.  508;  Rec.  d'arch.  orient.,  I,  p.  285. 
The  discoveries  in  the  ruins  of  the  Esmun  temple,  which  point  to  a  long  reign 
of  Bod-aStart,  make  impossible  the  view  of  the  same  author  {Rev.  arch.r 
1892,  p.  119)  that  Philocles  established  a  claim  upon  the  throne  of  Sidon  by 
marrying  Em-AStart.  The  identification  of  Philocles  with  Tabnit — Winckler, 
A .  O.  F.,  II,  p.  295ff. — is  also  unwarranted. 

8  C.I.  A.,  II,  171. 


THE  ESMUNAZAR  DYNASTY  75 

of  Philocles,1  and  in  the  fact  that  the  latter  belonged  to  a 
prominent  Sidonian  family  has  been  seen  a  partial  explanation 
for  the  son's  exaltation;  but  the  identification  seems  unwarranted. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  at  the  time  of  Esmunazar's  death, 
or  soon  after,  a  republican  form  of  government  was  introduced 
in  Sidon.2  Our  more  complete  knowledge  of  the  reign  of  Bod- 
astart  makes  this  view  impossible.  If  such  government  did 
exist  in  the  third  century  B.C.,  of  which  there  is  no  conclusive 
evidence,  it  cannot  have  been  introduced  until  after  the  death 
of  Philocles.  The  chief  argument  is  drawn  from  a  Phoenician 
inscription  3  which  contains  the  expression,  ' '  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  the  people  of  Sidon."  This  expression  may,  indeed,, 
imply  the  existence  of  a  republican  form  of  government  in 
Sidon,  but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  inscription  dates 
from  the  third  century  B.C.  Most  of  the  translators  assign  it 
to  a  later  period  when,  we  know,  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment existed  in  the  city.  If,  however,  palseographical  consid- 
erations should  compel  us  in  the  end  to  assign  it  to  an  earlier 
date,4  we  may  assume  that  after  the  death  of  Philocles  a  repub- 
lic was  established,  perhaps  c.  275  B.C.,  when  a  republican  form 
of  government  was  introduced  also  in  Tyre. 

The  change  from  the  sovereignty  of  the  Ptolemies  to  that  of 
the  Seleucidse  may  not  have  been  unwelcome  to  Sidon  and  Tyrer 
for  they  must  have  looked  with  envy  upon  the  rapidly  growing 
city  of  Alexandria,  which  threatened  to  rob  them  of  their  com- 
mercial supremacy.  As  the  Sidonians  had  formerly  furnished 
ships  to  the  Persians,  to  Alexander,  and  to  the  Ptolemies,  so 
now  they  assisted  Antiochus  in  his  wars.5  But  the  Seleucid 
supremacy  was  not  destined  to  continue  very  long.  During  the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century  the  empire  commenced  to 


1  E.  Meyer,  in  Encycl.  Bibl.,  art.  Phoenicia.  2  Ibid. 

3  Hoffmann,  Ueber  einige  phonikische  Inschriften,  No.  1. 

4  See  C.  I.  A.,  II,  supplem.  1335b;  but  the  Phoenician  inscriptions  are  still 
too  few  to  set  up  valid  palseographical  standards. 

5  Livy,  Historia,  XXXVII,  30;  1  Mac.  5  :  15. 


76  TO   THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE   CRUSADES 

break  up;  possession  after  possession  was  lost,  and  in  111  Sidon 
secured  complete  autonomy.1 

From  the  second  century  on  the  inscriptions  bear  witness 
that  the  relationship  between  Phoenicia  and  Greece  continued 
to  be  very  close.  Sons  of  Phoenician  parents  are  found  in  the 
corps  of  the  Attic  ephebi;2  Phoenicians  figure  as  victors  in  the 
gymnastic  contests  at  Athens,3  at  Cos,4  at  Delos.5  Artists  from 
Phoenicia  are  also  mentioned,6  and  Strabo  names  philosophers 
whose  homes  were  in  Tyre  and  Sidon.7  As  at  the  earlier  period, 
the  Sidonians  stand  out  more  prominently  than  the  inhabitants 
of  any  other  city  of  Phoenicia;  the  majority  of  the  Phoenicians 
named  in  these  inscriptions  are  Sidonians. 

When  the  kingdom  of  the  Seleucidse  was  dissolved  in  64  B.C., 
Syria  and  Phoenicia  became  a  Roman  province.  Like  her  pre- 
decessors, Rome  exercised  her  rule  in  a  spirit  of  leniency,  and 
Sidon,  with  several  other  Phoenician  cities,  was  permitted  to 
retain  its  autonomy.  Julius  Caesar  addresses  his  decrees  to  the 
"magistrates,  senate,  and  people  of  Sidon."8  The  city  had 
become  quite  prosperous  again,  and  its  influence  extended  far 
beyond  its  own  borders.  In  one  decree  of  Caesar9  reference  is 
made  to  the  payment  of  tribute  by  the  Jews  in  Sidon, ' '  that  they 
pay  their  tribute  in  Sidon  in  the  second  year — of  the  sabbatic 
period — the  fourth  part  of  what  was  sown."  The  same  decree 
speaks  of  exports  from  Joppa  to  Sidon,  a  certain  percentage 
of  which  was  to  be  paid  by  the  people  of  Joppa  as  a  tribute  to 
Hyrcanus  and  his  sons.  Antony  also  respected  the  privileges 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon  and,  notwithstanding  her  persistent  pleas, 
he  refused  to  present  the  two  cities  to  Cleopatra.  "Thus  he 
gave  her  the  cities  that  were  on  this  side  of  the  river  Eleutheros, 

1  Gesenius,  Monumenta,  p.  264ff. ;  Bevan,  House  of  Seleucus,  II,  p.  256. 

2  C.  I.  A.,  II,  Nos.  467,  469,  471,  492. 

3  C.  I.  A.,  II,  Nos.  448,  498,  966,  968,  970. 

4  Bulletin  de  cor.  hell.,  V,  207.  5  Bulletin  de  cor.  hell.,  VI,  146. 

•  C.  I.  A.,  II,  1318.  7XVI,  2,  34. 
8  Josephus,  Ant.,  XIV,  10,  2;  XIV,  10,  6. 

•  Ibid.,  XIV,  10,  6. 


THE   ROMAN   SUPREMACY  77 

as  far  as  Egypt,  excepting  Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  he  knew  to 
have  been  free  cities  from  their  ancestors,  although  she  pressed 
him  very  often  to  bestow  these  upon  her  also. '  *  Sidon  was  not 
very  appreciative  of  these  favors,  for  when  the  Parthians  under 
Pacorus  invaded  Phoenicia,  the  inhabitants  opened  the  gates  to 
them  without  a  moment's  resistance.2  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  struggle  between  the  several  Roman  factions  they  took  the 
part  of  Antony,  their  benefactor.  Augustus  remembered  this, 
and  when  he  went  to  the  East  in  20  B.C.,  he  deprived  both  Sidon 
and  Tyre  of  their  freedom.3  With  this  one  exception,  the  rule 
of  Rome  proved  exceedingly  advantageous  to  the  two  cities, 
for  the  Romans  cleared  the  Mediterranean  Sea  of  the  piratical 
fleets  which  made  navigation  very  dangerous.4  Once  more  the 
Phoenician  ships  could  cross  the  waters  without  fear  and  fill  the 
coffers  of  the  merchants  at  home.  Of  the  two  cities  Tyre  seems 
to  have  been  the  more  prominent,  though  Sidon  was  a  close 
second.5  From  this  time  on,  however,  neither  city  played  a 
prominent  part  politically,  and  until  the  time  of  the  Crusades 
they  are  named  but  rarely,  Sidon  even  less  frequently  than 
Tyre. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  two  cities  are  named  together  ten 
times,6  in  a  manner  which  shows  that  they  were  two  representa- 

1  Josephus,  Ant.,  XV,  4,  1;  cp.  also  XIV,  12,  5,  where  is  recorded  a  decree 
addressed  by  him  to  the  magistrates,  senate,  and  people  of  jTyre,  and  §  6, 
where  the  statement  is  made  that  the  same  thing  was  written  to  Sidon. 

2  Josephus,  Ant.,  XIV,  13,  13;  cp.  Bell.  Jud.,  I,  13,  1. 

3  Dion  Cassius,  Historia  Romana,  54,  7. 

4  Thucydides,  De  hello  Peloponnesiaco,  I,  4. 

5  Mela,  1, 12,  written  perhaps  during  the  reign  of  Claudius,  contains  the  words 
adhuc  opulenta  Sidon.  That  Sidon  was  a  city  of  prominence  during  the 
Roman  period  is  implied  also  in  Joseph.,  Ant.,  XVIII,  6,  3.  If  the  city  could 
insist  on  its  rights  against  Damascus,  it  must  have  had  resources  which  would 
have  enabled  it  to  back  up,  if  necessary,  its  demands  with  force.  One  other 
reference  of  Josephus  to  Sidon  may  be  mentioned  here.  In  Bell.  Jud.,  II,  18, 
5,  he  states  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  wars  with  the  Romans  the 
Sidonians  were  very  friendly  toward  the  Jews,  and  would  not  permit  any  of  the 
Jews  who  dwelt  in  their  midst  to  be  killed  or  imprisoned. 

•Matt.  11  :21,  22;  15:21;  Mark  3: 8;  7  :  24,  31;  Luke  6  :  17;  10  :  13,  14;. 
Acts  12  :  20. 


78  TO   THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES 

tive  cities  of  Phoenicia;  so  much  so,  that  in  some  cases  the  phrase 
''Tyre  and  Sidon"  is  practically  equivalent  to  " Phoenicia. ' ' 
Twice  Sidon  is  named  alone,  once  in  an  allusion  to  an  incident 
recorded  in  the  Old  Testament,1  and  once  as  a  stopping  place  of 
Paul  on  his  way  to  Rome.2  The  most  important  event  recorded 
in  the  gospels  which  is  specifically  located  in  Phoenicia  is  the 
healing  of  the  daughter  of  the  Syro-Phoenician  woman,3  which 
took  place  between  Tyre  and  Sidon,  but  nearer  to  the  former.4 
Acts  12  :  20,  21  throw  an  interesting  sidelight  upon  conditions 
in  Tyre  and  Sidon  at  that  time:  "Now  he — Herod  Agrippa — 
was  highly  displeased  with  the  men  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Then 
they  came  to  him  with  one  accord,  and  having  made  Blastus, 
the  king's  chamberlain,  their  friend,  they  asked  for  peace, 
because  their  country  was  nourished  by  the  king's  country. 
And  upon  a  fixed  day  Herod  arrayed  himself  in  royal  apparel,  and 
sat  upon  his  throne  and  made  an  oration  to  them."  The  atti- 
tude of  Herod  on  this  occasion  is  inexplicable,  unless  we  assume 
that  at  this  time,  c.  44  A.D.,  Tyre  and  Sidon  enjoyed  once  more 
a  high  degree  of  independence.  "We  cannot  suppose,"  says 
Rawlinson,5  "that  the  Judaean  prince  would  have  ventured  to 
take  up  this  attitude,6  if  the  Phoenician  cities  would  have  been 
fully  incorporated  into  the  Roman  state,  since  in  that  case 
quarreling  with  them  would  have  been  quarreling  with  Rome — 
a  step  on  which  even  Agrippa,  with  all  his  pride  and  all  his 
rashness,  would  scarcely  have  ventured."  In  all  probability 
one  of  the  successors  of  Augustus  restored  to  the  two  cities  the 
privileges  which  he  had  taken  away  from  them  in  20  B.C. 

1  Luke  4  :  26,  Sarepta,  in  the  land  of  Sidon.  2  Acts  27  :  3. 

8  Mark  7  :  24-30;  Matt.  15  :  31-38.  The  Talmudical  references  to  Sidon  are 
of  no  historical  value  (cp.  Neubauer,  La  Gtographie  du  Talmud,  pp.  294,  295) 
and  the  same  is  true  of  the  Apocryphal  references,  e.g.,  1  Esdr.  5  :  55 ; 
Jud.  2  :  28. 

4Cp.  Mark 7  :31:  "And  again  he  went  out  from  the  borders  of  Tyre,  and 
came  through  Sidon  unto  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  through  the  midst  of  the  borders 
of  Decapolis." 

6  History,  p.  543. 

J  To  make  war  against  them,  as  is  implied  in  their  petition  for  peace. 


THE   SPREAD   OF  CHRISTIANITY  79 

Christianity  secured  a  foothold  in  Phoenicia  very  early  in  the 
apostolic  age.1  On  Paul's  return  from  his  third  missionary 
journey  he  found  disciples  in  Tyre  and  Ptolemais,2  and  in  Sidon 
he  found  friends  when  he  stopped  there  on  his  way  to  Rome,3 
which  makes  it  probable  that  the  foundation  of  a  church  was 
laid  in  Sidon  about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  A.D.  The 
centre  of  the  Phoenician  church  was  Tyre,  which  became  the 
seat  of  a  Christian  bishop  toward  the  close  of  the  second  century. 
There  also  was  held,  in  335,  the  Council  which  condemned 
Athanasius.  Little  is  heard  of  Sidon,  but  the  list  of  the  bishops 
present  at  the  Council  of  Nicaea  in  325  shows  that  it  also  was  an 
episcopal  seat  in  the  fourth  century,  for  it  names  Theodorus  as 
the  Bishop  of  Sidon.4  At  approximately  the  same  time  Eusebius 
speaks  of  Sidon  as  a  city  of  note.5 

From  the  time  of  Eusebius  to  the  period  of  the  Crusades  we 
are  dependent  almost  entirely  upon  the  records  of  the  Christian 
pilgrims  for  information  concerning  Sidon  and  its  fortunes.  The 
chief  interest  of  these  pilgrims  centered  in  Jerusalem  and  in  the 
sacred  places  scattered  throughout  Palestine  proper;  only  rarely 
do  they  give  full  descriptions  of  places  outside  of  the  Holy  Land. 
As  a  result  authentic  information  concerning  the  history  of 
Sidon  during  these  centuries  is  very  scarce. 

The  earliest  record  of  a  Christian  pilgrimage  is  the  Itinerary 
of  the  Bordeaux  Pilgrim.  The  author,  who  is  unknown,  made 
his  journey  in  333  A.D.;  he  names  Sidon,6  but  supplies  no  his- 
torical information.  The  same  is  true  of  The  Pilgrimage  of  Ste. 
Paula,  written  by  Jerome.7  About  530  B.C.  Theodosion,  called 
the  deacon  or  the  archdeacon,  wrote  concerning  Sidon :  ' '  Sarepta 
of  Sidonia  is  in  Phoenicia,  near  Mount  Carmel.  It  is  twelve  miles 
from  Sarepta  to  Sidon;  and  it  was  called  Sarepta  of   Sidonia 

1  Acts  11: 19.  'Acts  21:  4,  7.  3  Acts  27  :  3. 

*  Cp.  Pitra,  Spicilegium  Solesmense,  I,  p.  531. 

5  Onomasticon,  under  Ztduv;   cp.  also  Publ.  de  la  soc.  de  V orient  latin,  Ser. 
geogr.,  II,  pp.  58,  114. 
8  P.  P.  T.,  Vol.  I,  p.  15. 
7  Publications  de  la  societe  de  V orient  latin,  Serie  geographique,  Vol.  I,  p.  31. 


80  TO  THE   BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES 

because  at  that  time  Sidon  was  the  metropolis  of  Sarepta,  but 
now  Sarepta  is  the  metropolis. ' "  This  would  seem  to  imply  that 
in  his  day  Sarepta  had  surpassed  Sidon.  After  the  destruction 
of  Beyrut  by  an  earthquake  in  551,2  the  law  school  which  had 
flourished  there  for  about  three  centuries  3  was  transferred  to 
Sidon,4  but  it  never  flourished  in  its  new  location.  Antoninus 
Martyr,  who  visited  the  Holy  Land  between  560  and  570  A.D., 
describes  his  visit  to  Sidon  in  these  words:  "From  Beyrut  we 
came  to  Sidon,  which  was  partly  ruined,  and  which  is  near  the 
slope  of  Mount  Lebanon.  The  people  in  it  are  very  wicked. 
There  flows  the  river  Asclepius,5  and  there  is  the  source  from 
which  it  rises.  From  Sidon  we  came  to  Sarepta,  which  is  a 
small  and  very  Christian  city."8  How  Sidon  came  to  be 
partly  in  ruins  is  not  known;  it  too  may  have  suffered  from  the 
earthquake  in  551,  or  Antoninus  may  mean  nothing  more  than 
that  the  town  he  saw  did  not  cover  the  entire  site  occupied  by  the 
ancient  city,  remains  of  which  were  still  seen  in  his  day.  Two 
accounts  of  the  pilgrimage  of  the  first  English  pilgrim,  St.  Willi- 
bald,  have  been  preserved,  the  Itinerarium  S.  Willibaldi  and 
the  Hodceporicon.  Both  state  that  he  visited  Sidon,7  but  they 
supply  no  information  of  historical  value. 

In  the  seventh  century  A.D.,  during  the  reign  of  Caliph  Omar, 
Syria  and  Phoenicia  were  incorporated  into  the  Moslem  empire. 
The  capture  of  Damascus,  in  635,  was  followed,  in  638-640,  by  the 
conquest  of  the  whole  of  Syria.8  The  conquered  territory  was 
divided  into  five  Junds  or  military  districts.  Phoenicia  was 
made  a  part  of  the  district  of  Damascus,9  and  remained  such  for 
centuries.  Ibn-al-Faklh,  the  Arabic  geographer,  writing  c. 
903  A.D.,  calls  Sidon  a  coast  town  of  Damascus,  which  gave  its 
name  to  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  district.10    Ya'kub,  writing  in 

1  Public,  de  la  soc.  de  I'or.  lat.,  Ser.  g6ogr.,  Vol.  I,  p.  73. 

2  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  IV,  p.  435.    8  Heinecke,  Jurisprudentia,  proem.  45. 
*  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  I,  p.  224.  8  The  Nahr-el-Auwaly. 

9  Public,  de  la  soc.  de  I'or.  lat.,  Se>.  geogr.,  Vol.  I,  p.  92;  cp.  p.  362. 

7  Ibid.,  pp.  268,  293.  8  Muller,  Der  Islam,  I,  pp.  220,  221. 

8  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  p.  26. 

10  Kitab  al-bulddn,  in  De  Geoje,  Bibl.  Geogr.  Arab.,  Vol.  V,  p.  105. 


PILGRIMS  AND  TRAVELERS  81 

891,  calls  Sidon  "a  city  at  the  foot  of  the  Lebanon  mountains. 
The  town  is  entirely  peopled  by  Persians,  who  were  brought 
here  by  the  Caliph  Mu'awiyah. ' "  This  energetic  conqueror, 
who  reigned  from  661  to  680,  must  have  learned  his  lesson  from 
the  policy  pursued  by  the  Assyrian  kings.2  Al-Makdisi, 
who  wrote  in  985,  divides  Syria  into  six  districts.  Among 
the  cities  of  the  district  of  Damascus  he  names  Sidon,  which 
he  calls  "a  fortified  city  on  the  sea."3  The  most  extensive 
reference  to  Sidon  during  this  period  is  found  in  the  diary  of 
Abu-Mu'in-Nasir-i-Khusrau,  a  Persian  who  traveled  through 
Palestine  and  Syria  in  1047  A.D.  The  account  reads:  "From 
Beyrut  we  came  to  the  city  of  Sidon,  likewise  on  the  seashore. 
They  cultivate  here  much  sugar  cane.  The  city  has  a  well-built 
wall  of  stone  and  four  gates.  It  has  a  fine  Friday  mosque, 
very  pleasantly  situated,  the  whole  interior  of  which  is  spread 
with  matting  in  colored  designs.  The  bazaars  are  so  splendidly 
adorned  that  when  I  first  saw  them  I  imagined  the  city  to  be 
decorated  for  the  arrival  of  the  Sultan,  or  in  honor  of  some  good 
news.  But  when  I  inquired,  they  said  it  was  customary  for 
their  city  to  be  always  thus  beautifully  decorated.  The  gardens 
and  orchards  of  the  town  are  such  that  one  might  say  that  each 
was  a  plaisance  laid  out  at  the  fancy  of  some  king.  Kiosks  are 
set  therein,  and  the  greater  number  of  trees  are  of  those  kinds 
that  bear  fruit."4  This  description,  which  is  the  last  from  the 
period  preceding  the  Crusades,  shows  that  at  the  close  of  the 
first  millennium  of  the  Christian  era  Sidon  had  regained  much  of 
its  oldtime  splendor,  and  was  apparently  destined  to  play  again 
an  important  role  in  the  commercial  history  of  the  Orient. 

1  Kit&b  al-bulddn,  II,  p.  175  (Juynboll). 

2  See  above,  p.  53. 

3  Ahsan  at-tak&sim,  p.  160  (De  Geoje). 
*P.P.T.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  11. 


82  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  CRUSADES 

During  the  period  of  the  Crusades  Sidon  played  a  less  promi- 
nent part  than  Tyre,  Acco,  and  Joppa,  the  other  port  cities  along 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.1  Nevertheless,  as  a 
city  with  a  desirable  harbor,  it  also  soon  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  Crusaders,  who,  coming  to  the  Holy  Land  on  ships,  were 
greatly  in  need  of  suitable  landing  places,  while  the  Moslems 
were  equally  eager  to  retain  the  coast  cities  in  their  own  power. 
As  a  result  the  city  was  throughout  the  entire  period  a  bone 
of  contention  between  the  warring  parties;  back  and  forth  it 
passed  between  Christians  and  Moslems,  until  at  the  close  of 
the  struggle  it  remained  with  the  latter,  a  ruin. 

The  opening  of  the  first  Crusade,  1096-1099,  found  Sidon  a 
renowned  and  prosperous  city.2  On  their  march  toward  Jeru- 
salem, in  the  spring  of  1099,  the  Crusaders  came  for  the  first 
time  into  its  vicinity.3  The  commander  of  Sidon,  a  subject 
of  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  sought  to  check  their  advance,  but  his 
troops  were  repelled.4  The  Christians  encamped  near  the  city 
for  a  few  days;  from  their  encampments  they  sent  small  detach- 
ments to  ravage  the  adjacent  districts,  and  in  this  wise  they 
secured  much  booty.  While  here  they  encountered  many 
poisonous  snakes,  but  the  natives  taught  them  a  remedy  against 

1  In  commerce  Sidon  played  an  unimportant  role  during  the  period  of  the 
Crusades.     Cp.  Schaube,  Handelsgeschichte  der  romanischen  Volker,  passim. 

3  William  of  Tyre,  Historia  rerum  in  partibus  transmarinis  gestarum,  X,  19. 

3  William  of  Tyre,  VII,  22;  Peter  Tudebodus,  Historia  de  Hierosolymitano 
itinere,  XIII,  13;  Abbreviatus,  c.  48;  Historia  Peregrinorum,  c.  98;  Fulcherius 
Carnotensis, Historia  Hierosolymitana,  I,  25;  Gesta  Tancredi,  c.  Ill;  Robertus 
Monachus,  Historia  Iherosolimitana,  VIII,  19;  Baldricus,  Historia  Jerosolimi- 
tana,  IV,  8 ;  Albertus  Aquensis,  Historia  Hierosolymitana,  V,  40. 

*  William  of  Tyre,  VII,  22;  Albertus  Aquensis,  V,  40. 


EARLY  ATTACKS   UPON   SIDON  83 

their  bites.1  After  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  on  July  15,  1099,2 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon  was  elected  king  of  the  newly  established 
kingdom.3  He  died  on  July  18,  1100,4  whereupon,  in  October 
of  the  same  year,  Baldwin,  his  brother,  who  had  made  himself 
master  of  Edessa,5  was  elected  as  his  successor.6  On  his  way  to 
Jerusalem  he  passed  Sidon,  without  molesting  it.7  At  the  close 
of  the  Crusade  the  city  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Moslems. 

Uninterrupted  intercourse  with  the  homeland  could  be  main- 
tained only  if  the  control  of  the  coast  cities  could  be  secured, 
and  much  of  the  time  between  the  first  and  the  second  Crusades8 
was  spent  in  attempts  to  accomplish  this  result.  Early  in  the 
campaign  the  anger  of  Baldwin  was  aroused  against  Sidon.  In 
1102  a  host  of  Christians  on  its  way  to  Europe  was  overtaken  by 
a  tempest  off  the  coast  of  Sidon.  Many  of  the  ships  were 
wrecked,  and  great  numbers  of  the  Christians  were  either 
drowned,  or  captured  by  the  Moslems  in  Sidon.9  In  the  following 
year  the  Sidonians  sent  help  to  Acco  and  Tripolis,  which  were 
besieged  by  the  Christians.10  To  punish  the  inhabitants  for 
these  expressions  of  hostility  Baldwin  led  an  army  against  Sidon 
in  1107.  "In  the  year  501— i.e.,  1107-1108— Baldwin,  the 
Frank,  the  lord  of  Jerusalem,  went  to  besiege  Sidon."11  When 
the  citizens  heard  of  the  extensive  preparations  for  an  attack,  they 
offered  to  the  king  a  large  amount  of  money,  if  he  would  raise 
the  siege.  The  negotiations  continued  for  some  time,  and  finally 
the  king,  who  was  in  need  of  money,  withdrew,  on  the  payment 


I  Albertus  Aquensis,  V,  40. 

;    2  William  of  Tyre,  VIII,  14ff. 
3  Id.,  IX,  2.  •  Id.,  IX,  23.  5  Id.,  IV,  2,  3.  8  Id.,  X,  1. 

7  Id.,  X,  6;  Fulcherius  Carnotensis,  II,  3;  Gesta  Francorum,  c.  43;  Albertus 
Aquensis,  VII,  34. 

8  1099-1147  A.D.  »  Albertus  Aquensis,  IX,  18. 
10  Id.,  IX,  19,  32. 

II  Abu'l  Mahasin,  Nuj&m  az-Zdhira,  year  501.  It  seems  most  convenient  to 
give  the  references  to  the  Arabic  historians  of  the  Crusades  under  the  years 
in  which  they  record  the  events  alluded  to.  Where  the  records  are  lengthy 
more  specific  references  are  given.  Unless  otherwise  stated  the  texts  used  are 
those  published  in  Recueil  des  historiens  des  croisades,  Orientaux,  Vol.  I-IV. 


84  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

of  15,000  Byzantines.1  However,  the  Sidonians  soon  gave 
cause  for  new  complaint.  They  united  with  the  people  of 
Ascalon,  Tyre,  and  Beyrut  in  an  attack  upon  Christian  pilgrims 
and  upon  the  cities  of  Joppa  and  Ramleh.2  For  this  new 
treachery  Baldwin  determined  to  visit  severe  judgment  upon 
Sidon,  and  in  the  following  year  he  enclosed  the  city  from  the 
sea  side  as  well  as  from  the  land.3  Everything  progressed  favor- 
ably until  at  the  last  moment,  when  the  capture  of  the  city 
seemed  imminent,  the  arival  of  an  Egyptian  fleet  brought  relief 
to  the  city.4  The  struggle  continued  for  a  while  longer,  with 
heavy  losses  on  both  sides;  but  at  last,  when  Baldwin  was  in- 
formed that  Atabek  Toghtekin  of  Damascus  was  approach- 
ing with  15,000  men,5  he  raised  the  siege.6  Though  the  Sidonians 
had  promised  to  pay  30,000  pieces  of  gold  for  the  aid  of  Damascus, 
when  Toghtekin  came  they  refused  to  pay  it;  whereupon  he 
besieged  the  city  for  ten  days,  and  even  threatened  to  recall 
Baldwin;  finally,  on  the  payment  of  9,000  pieces,  he  withdrew. 

From  Sidon  Baldwin  turned  against  Tripolis  and  Beyrut; 
the  former  fell  on  June  10,  1109,  the  latter  in  April,  1110.  After 
the  capture  of  Beyrut  he  again  threatened  Sidon,  and  once  more 
he  withdrew  on  the  payment  of  a  sum  of  money  and  returned  to 
Jerusalem,  whither  the  pilgrim  festivities  called  him.7  But 
soon  he  returned,  determined  to  besiege  the  city  in  earnest.  A 
full  account  of  the  events  leading  to  the  occupation  of  the  city 
has  been  preserved  by  the  Arabic  historian  Ibn-al-Athir  :8 
' '  There  had  arrived  in  Syria  from  beyond  the  sea  a  fleet  of  sixty 
vessels,  filled  with  men  and  provisions.  The  fleet  was  under  the 
command  of  a  king  from  among  the  Franks,9  who  desired  to 
visit  the  Holy  City,  and  to  make  himself,  as  he  believed,  accept- 


1AlbertusAquensis,X,3-8;cp.l8,58;XI,l.         2Id.,X,9.         *Id.,X,48. 

*  Abu'l  Muzaffar,  Mir'dt  az-Zamdn,  year  501 ;  Albertus  Aquensis,  X,  49. 

*  Id.,  X,  50^  53.  'Id.,  X,  53. 

7  Abu'l  Muzaffar,  year  503.  To  the  same  event  may  refer  Albertus  Aquensis, 
XI,  11,  though  the  dates  of  the  two  accounts  seem  to  vary.  It  is  difficult  to 
determine  exactly  the  dates  of  the  several  attacks  upon  Sidon. 

8  Al-K&mil,  year  504.  •  He  means  Sigur,  king  of  Norway. 


CAPITULATION   OF  SIDON  85 

able  to  God  by  making  war  against  the  Moslems.  This  king 
united  with  Baldwin,  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  agreed 
between  them  to  overrun  the  possessions  of  the  Moslems.  They 
departed  therefore  from  Jerusalem,  and  arrived  before  Sidon  on 
the  third  day  of  Rabt  the  second.1  The  city  was  pressed  from 
sea  and  land.  At  this  time  the  Egyptian  fleet  was  detained  at 
Tyre,  and  could  not  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  besieged.  The 
Franks  constructed  a  barricade  of  wood  and  made  it  very  solid ; 
they  made  it  also  proof  against  fire  and  against  stones.  Then 
they  began  their  attacks.  When  the  inhabitants  saw  this  their 
courage  failed,  and  they  feared  that  they  would  have  to  endure 
the  same  fate  as  the  inhabitants  of  Beyrut.  They  sent,  there- 
fore, the  Kadi  of  their  city  and  several  of  their  sheikhs  as 
delegates  to  the  Franks,  and  asked  permission  of  their  king 
to  capitulate.  The  king  promised  safety  for  their  lives,  their 
possessions,  and  the  troops  of  the  garrison.  Everyone  was 
to  be  free  to  remain  in  the  city  or  to  depart  from  it. 
The  king  made  these  agreements  under  oath.  The  governor 
and  several  of  the  principal  men  of  the  city  started  on 
the  journey  on  the  twentieth  day  of  Jumada  the  -first,2  and 
went  to  Damascus.  But  many  persons  after  capitulating 
remained  in  their  places.  The  siege  lasted  for  forty-seven 
days.  Baldwin  returned  to  Jerusalem,  but  a  short  time 
afterward  he  returned  to  Sidon  and  imposed  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city  who  had  remained  in  their  homes 
a  tax  of  20,000  dinars  and  thus  impoverished  them."3    After 

1  Oct.  19, 1110.  2  Dec.  4,  1110. 

3  See  also  William  of  Tyre,  XI,  14;  Yakut,  Mu'jam  al-bulddn,ed.  Wiisten- 
feld,  III,  p.  441;  Abu'l-Muzaffar,  Mir'dl  az-Zam&n,  year  503;  Abu'l-Mahasin, 
Rec.  des  hist,  des  crois.,  Or.,  Ill,  p.  488;  Abu'1-Fida,  Mukhtasar  ta'rikh  al 
balar,  year  504.  Fulcherius  Carnotensis,  II,  44;  Gesta  Franc.,  Variant  to  c.  72. 
Histor.  Hieros.,  Pars  II,  c.  24;  Albertus  Aquensis,  XI,  31-34;  Hist.  Nicwna  vel 
Antioch.,  c.  73;  cp.  77.  Benedictus,  Hist.  Gotefridi,  IV,  c.  17;  Li  estoire  de 
Jerusalem  et  d'Antioche,  III,  c.  8.  Annates  de  Terre  Sainte,  in  Archives  de 
I'orient  latin,  II,  2,  p.  430.  There  are  differences  in  detail  between  some  of 
these  writers.  William  of  Tyre,  for  example,  dates  the  capture  of  the  city  in 
December,  1111;  the  Annates  de  Terre  Sainte  in  May,  1110;  Abu'l-Muzaffar 


86  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

the  capitulation  of  the  city  it  was  given  to  Eustachius 
Grenier,  lord  of  Csesarea.1 

In  the  autumn  of  1111  Baldwin  commenced  the  siege  of  Tyre,2 
in  which  he  was  assisted  by  Eustachius  Grenier,  the  lord  of  Sidon 
and  Csesarea.  The  siege  continued  for  about  four  months,  when 
the  Christians  returned  to  Jerusalem,  because  they  heard  that  an 
army  of  20,000  men,  under  the  leadership  of  Toghtekin,  was 
coming  to  the  relief  of  the  city.  While  the  Crusaders  lay  before 
Tyre,  the  Christians  in  Sidon  sent  to  them  provisions  by  sea, 
whereupon  Toghtekin  turned  upon  the  Sidonian  boats,  killed 
some  of  the  men  aboard,  and  destroyed  some  of  the  ships.3 

After  the  death  of  Baldwin  I,  on  April  7,  1118,  his  nephew 
Baldwin,  whom  he  had  appointed  lord  of  Edessa  on  his  own 
accession  to  the  throne  of  Jerusalem,  was  elected  his  successor 
and  was  anointed  king  on  Easter  Sunday,  April  14,  1118.4 
Soon  afterward  he  summoned  to  Jerusalem  the  barons  of  the 
kingdom,  that  they  might  have  an  opportunity  to  swear  allegi- 
ance to  him.  Sidon  was  one  of  the  cities  that  recognized  him  as 
the  rightful  king.5  When  a  few  years  later  the  king  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Moslems,  Eustachius  Grenier,  lord  of  Sidon,  was 
entrusted  with  the  government.6  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to 
send  a  message  to  the  Venetian  fleet,  which  was  on  its  way  to  the 
Holy  Land,  urging  it  to  proceed  quickly,  as  the  kingdom  of  Jeru- 
salem was  in  dire  straits;  and  in  anticipation  of  the  help  which  he 

in  the  year  503;  other  Arabic  historians  in  the  year  504.  Albertus  Aquensis 
says  that  about  5,000  people  left  the  city  undisturbed  for  Ascalon.  The  other 
early  writers  agree  with  Ibn-al-Athir. 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XII,  17;  Fulcherius  Carnotensis,  III,  16;  Hist.  Hieros., 
Pars  II,  c.  37.  Hist.  Nic.  vel  Antioch.,  c.  80.  Li  estoire  de  Jer.  et  d'Ant.,  Ill, 
13.  The  son  of  Eustachius  was  Girard,  who  became  lord  of  Sidon — Archives 
de  Vor.  latin,  I,  673-675 ;  his  son  was  Reginald,  who  became  the  successor  of 
his  father  as  lord  of  Sidon.     See  below,  p.  91. 

2  William  of  Tyre,  XI,  17. 

3  Abu'l-Mahasin,  NujiXm  az-Z&hira,  in  Rec.  des  histor.  des  crois.,  Orientaux, 
III,  p.  491.  Abu'l-Muzaffar,  Mir'dt  az-Zamdn,  year  505;  cp.  Michaud,  Bib- 
liotheque  des  croisades,  IV,  p.  30. 

4  William  of  Tyre,  XII,  3,  4.  6  Albertus  Aquensis,  XII,  30. 
8  William  of  Tyre,  XII,  17. 


SIDON   IN  THE   HANDS  OF  CHRISTIANS  87 

expected  they  would  render,  he  promised  to  the  Venetians  certain 
possessions  and  privileges  in  Sidon  and  other  cities  of  the  king- 
dom.1 A  few  years  later,  in  1126,  Sidon  was  threatened  by  an 
Egyptian  fleet,  which  went  along  the  coast  as  far  north  as  Beyrut. 
There  it  was  defeated  while  getting  water,  whereupon  it  returned 
hastily  to  Egypt  without  molesting  the  coast  cities  any  further.2 
Three  years  later  the  Patriarch  Gormund  died  in  Sidon,  from  an 
illness  which  attacked  him  during  the  siege  of  the  castle  Belhasam 
near  Sidon.3 

To  this  general  period  belong  the  troubles  in  the  Eastern  Church 
which  involved  the  Bishop  of  Sidon.  Tyre  had  been  without  an 
archbishop  for  several  years  preceding  April  28,  1128,  when 
William,  the  Prior  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  was  elevated  to  the 
office.  He  found  that  during  the  interval  between  the  death 
of  his  predecessor  Odo  and  his  own  election  several  of  the  suf- 
fragan bishops,  among  th3m  the  Bishop  of  Sidon,  had  ceased 
to  recognize  the  authority  of  Tyre.  The  bitterness  of  the  long 
struggle  between  the  new  archbishop  and  the  rebellious  bishops 
was  intensified  by  the  jealousies  of  the  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem.  Finally,  through  the  earnest  efforts  of  Pope  Inno- 
cent II,  who  addressed  letters  of  conciliation  to  the  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem  and  to  the  rebellious  bishops,  among  them  Bernard 
of  Sidon,4  and  even  sent  an  apostolic  delegate,  who  landed  in 
Sidon,5  peace  was  restored,  and  the  Bishop  of  Sidon  accepted 
once  more  the  authority  of  the  Archbishop  of  Tyre,  to  whose 
diocese  Sidon  had  belonged  for  many  centuries.8  In  the  absence 
of  all  direct  information,  we  may  assume,  that  during  the  reigns 
of  Baldwin  II  and  his  immediate  successors  the  lord  of  Sidon 
remained  loyal  to  the  kings  of  Jerusalem  and  aided  them  in  their 
undertakings  against  the  Moslems. 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XII,  25.  2  Fulcherius  Carnotensis,  III,  56. 

3  William  of  Tyre,  XIII,  25.  4  Id.,  XIV,  13, 14.  5  Id.,  XV,  11. 

8  See  above,  p.  79 ;  also  William  of  Tyre,  XIII,  2.  Publ.  de  la  soc.  de  I'or.  latin, 
Ser.  geogr.,  I,  p.  331;  III,  11,  15.  In  1205  the  Bishop  of  Halberstadt,  who 
administered  the  diocese  of  Tyre  during  the  absence  of  the  archbishop,  conse- 
crated a  Bishop  of  Sidon;  see  Exuviae  Const.,  I,  p.  16. 


88  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

In  1151  the  Egyptian  fleet  attacked  Sidon  and  other  coast 
cities,1  and  six  years  later  an  earthquake  did  much  damage 
to  Sidon,  Beyrut,  Tripolis,  Acco,  Tyre,  and  "all  the  strong- 
holds of  the  Franks."2  In  the  following  year,  on  May  10th, 
Nur-addin  left  Damascus  to  attack  Jir-el-Khahab.  Before  he 
arrived  there  Ased-addin,  with  the  Turcoman  horsemen  who 
formed  his  army,  had  devastated  the  territory  of  Sidon  and 
the  adjacent  districts  and  had  secured  rich  booty.  He  had 
also  caught  in  an  ambush  Frank  soldiers  who  had  made  a  sortie 
from  Sidon,  had  slain  a  great  many  of  them,  and  had  made  the 
rest  prisoners,  among  them  the  son  of  the  commander  of  the 
citadel  of  Harim.  The  Moslems  had  not  lost  a  single  soldier.3 
The  forces  of  Nur-addin  came  into  the  neighborhood  of  Sidon 
in  1165,  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  a  fortress  or  cavern  located 
there.  The  garrison  was  bribed  into  surrender;  but  the  com- 
mander was  seized,  brought  to  Sidon  and  hanged  for  treason.4 
Seven  years  later,  in  1172,  Amalric,  the  king  of  Jerusalem,  was  in 
Sidon,  in  council  with  his  nobles  to  consider  a  serious  outrage  com- 
mitted by  a  Knight  Templar.  On  Mount  Lebanon  dwelt  a  small 
sect  called  Assassins,  under  the  rule  of  a  sheikh.  This  sheikh 
sent  word  to  the  king  that  he  was  ready  to  embrace  Christianity, 
if  the  Templars  would  release  his  subjects  living  near  their  castles 

1  Ibn-Muyassar,  continuation  of  Al  Musabbihi,  Kitdb  akhbdr  Misr,  year  546. 

7  Abu'l-Mahasin,  Nujilm  az-Zdhira,  year  552. 

3  Abu-Sama,  year  553;  see  Recueil  des  historiens  des  croisades,  Orientaux, 
IV,  p.  98.  Under  year  556  =  A.D.  1161,  Ibn-al-Athir  reports  the  following: 
"  The  Frank  lord  of  Sidon  took  refuge  with  Nur-addin  Mahmud,  who  granted 
it  to  him,  and  sent  him  away  with  an  escort.  They  were  attacked  on  the 
road;  some  were  slain,  the  others  fled."  The  lord  of  Sidon  in  1161  was 
Girard,  the  son  of  Eustachius  Grenier — Archives  de  I'or.  latin,  I,  p.  674.  The 
author  does  not  state  why  he  fled  to  Nur-addin;  and,  so  far  as  we  know, 
there  was  no  occasion  for  it;  hence  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Arabic  his- 
torian is  in  error  concerning  the  person.  He  may  have  in  mind  the  flight  of 
Sawir,  the  vizier  of  Egypt,  to  Nur-addin,  who  supplied  him  with  an  escort, 
which  was  defeated  by  the  Sultan  Dargari.  William  of  Tyre,  XIX,  7 ;  cp. 
Wilken,  Geschichte  der  Kreuzzuge,  III,  2,  p.  83. 

♦William  of  Tyre,  XIX,  11.  The  author  must  be  mistaken  when  he  says 
that  the  hostile  forces  were  under  the  command  of  Sirku,  the  commander-in- 
chief  of  Nur-addin,  for  he  was  in  Egypt  at  that  time. 


NUR-ADDIN  AND  SALAH-ADDIN  89 

from  the  annual  payment  of  2,000  pieces  of  gold.  The  king, 
who  received  the  news  gladly,  offered  to  compensate  the  Templars 
out  of  his  own  treasury.  As  the  messenger  of  the  sheikh,  accom- 
panied by  a  royal  escort,  was  returning  to  his  own  land,  he  was 
assassinated  by  one  of  the  Templars.  The  king,  full  of  wrath, 
came  to  Sidon  and  demanded  reparation;  when  it  was  refused 
by  the  commander  of  the  Templars,  he  ordered  the  murderer  to  be 
seized  by  force  and  thrown  into  prison  at  Tyre.1 

Meanwhile  a  new  and  powerful  foe  of  the  Christians  was 
appearing  on  the  horizon.  Sawir,  who  had  been  reinstated  as 
vizier  of  Egypt  by  Sirku,  the  commander-in-chief  of  Nur-addin, 
soon  ceased  his  allegiance  to  the  latter.  Whereupon  Sirku 
returned  to  Egypt,  overthrew  Sawir,  and  assumed  the  vizierate 
himself.  On  both  expeditions  Sirku  was  accompanied  by  his 
nephew  Salah-addin  Yusuf-ibn-Ayyub,2  who  on  the  death  of  his 
uncle  in  1169  became  his  successor.  The  last  of  the  Fatimite 
caliphs  died  in  1171,  when  Saladin  became  the  sole  ruler  of  the 
kingdom,  though  he  did  not  proclaim  himself  sultan  until  after 
the  death  of  Nur-addin  in  1174.  Between  that  year  and  1183 
he  succeeded  in  driving  the  successors  of  Nur-addin  from  Syria 
and  the  greater  part  of  Mesopotamia.  Though  he  came  in  fre- 
quent contact  with  the  Christians  during  these  years,  he  did 
not  commence  active  operations  against  them  until  after  he  had 
made  himself  master  of  Mohammedan  Syria.  In  1179  he 
came  for  the  first  time  into  the  vicinity  of  Sidon  and  devastated 
the  fields  around  the  city.3  Soon  afterwards  he  defeated  Bald- 
win near  Paneas,  when  many  of  the  fleeing  Christians  took 
refuge  in  Sidon.  Reginald,  the  lord  of  that  city,  who  was 
leading  his  men  to  the  aid  of  the  king,  might  have  saved  the 
day,  had  he  not  turned  back  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  mis- 
fortune that  had  befallen  the  king's  army.4  Three  years  later 
Saladin  was  again  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sidon.5  Finally,  in 
1187,  when  Reginald  de  Chatillon  treacherously  broke  the  truce 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XX,  29,  30.  2  Anglicized  Saladin. 

3  William  of  Tyre,  XXI,  28.  *  Id.,  XXI,  29.  8  Id.,  XXII,  20. 


•90  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE   CRUSADES 

established  two  years  before,  and  captured  a  caravan  of  Moslems/ 
Saladin  determined  to  strike  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  a  more 
effective  blow.  The  Crusaders  were  defeated  in  the  battle  of 
Tiberias  on  July  4,  with  a  loss  of  30,000  men,2  and  the  king  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.3  The  sultan  advanced  immediately 
against  other  cities  in  Palestine.  Nazareth  and  Acco  were  taken 
without  difficulty;4  the  citadel  of  Tibnin  fell  after  six  days. 
He  then  decided  upon  the  capture  of  Tyre,  but  seeing  its  strength, 
he  marched  toward  Sidon.5  The  Arabic  historians  represent 
him  as  proceeding  directly  to  Sidon  from  Tibnin.  ' '  From  Tib- 
nin, ' '  says  Ibn-al-Athir,6 ' '  Saladin  departed  for  Sidon.  On  the 
way  he  passed  close  by  Sarepta  and  took  it  by  capitulation, 
without  a  battle.  Then  he  resumed  his  march  to  Sidon.  This 
city  was  one  of  the  most  frequented  places  in  maritime  Syria. 
When  the  lord  of  Sidon  heard  that  the  sultan  was  coming  against 
him  he  departed  from  the  city,  leaving  it  without  defenders. 
On  his  arrival  Saladin  won  it  immediately  by  capitulation. 
This  event  took  place  on  the  21st  day  of  Jumdda  the  first." 
To  this  account  Abu-Sama,  quoting  from  Al-Imad,  adds 7  that 
the  banner  of  Saladin  was  hoisted,  public  prayer  was  offered,  the 
confession  of  the  Moslem  faith  was  made,  and  submission  to 
Allah  took  the  place  of  the  impious  revolt.  The  territory  of 
Sidon  was  restored  to  Reginald,  its  former  lord,8  who  had  allied 
himself  with  Saladin.9  Jerusalem  fell  on  October  2d  of  the 
same  year.10 

1  Abu'1-Fida,  Mukhtasar  ta'rikh  al  baiar,  year  582. 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XXIII,  40.  For  convenience  sake  the  same  designation 
is  retained,  though  in  Book  XXIII  begins  the  work  of  the  continuators  of 
William  of  Tyre. 

8  Id.,  XXIII,  44.  *Id.,  XXIII,  46,  47.  5  Id.,  XXIII,  47. 

8  Al  Kdmil,  year  583;  cp.  also  Abu'1-Fida,  Mukhtasar  ta'rikh  al  bdhar,  year 
583;  Yakut,  Mu'jam  al-bulddn,  IV,  162;  William  of  Tyre,  XXIII,  47. 
Hist.  Godfridi,  c.  47.  Baha-addin,  the  biographer  of  Saladin,  says — Rec.  des 
histor.  des  crois.,  Orientaux,  III,  p.  98 — that  he  took  the  city  the  day  after  his 
arrival.        '  Year  583 ;  see  Recueil  des  histor.  des  croisades,  Orientaux,  IV,  p.  308. 

'  See  Archives  de  I'or.  lat.,  II,  2,  p.  145. 

*  See  variant  on  p.  Ill  of  Vol.  II  of  Rec.  des  histor.  des  crois.,  Occidentaux; 
also  on  p.  198 ;  William  of  Tyre,  XXVI,  17.  10  William  of  Tyre,  XXIII,  61. 


CONQUESTS  OF  SALAH-ADDIN  91 

The  news  of  the  loss  of  the  Holy  City  aroused  the  Christians  in 
Europe  to  new  activity,  which  culminated  in  another  Crusade,1 
under  the  leadership  of  Frederic  Barbarossa  of  Germany,  Philip 
Augustus  of  France,  and  Richard  the  Lion-hearted  of  England. 
Frederic  was  drowned  soon  after  he  reached  Syria;  Richard  and 
Philip  captured  Acco  after  a  prolonged  siege,  but  the  two  kings 
quarreled  so  bitterly  that  Philip  returned  home  soon  after  the 
fall  of  the  city.  During  the  siege  of  Acco,  which  lasted  from 
August,  1189,  to  June,  1191,  Sidon,  then  in  possession  of  Regi- 
nald, a  vassal  of  Saladin,  sent  provisions  to  the  Moslems  in 
Acco.2  Reginald  played  an  important  part  in  the  negotiations 
between  Conrad  de  Montferrat,  lord  of  Tyre,  and  Saladin. 
Conrad  had  brought  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  authorities  by  marrying  Isabel,  the  divorced  wife 
of  Humphrey  of  Toron.3  The  hostility  of  Richard,  however,  was 
due  not  so  much  to  this  fact  as  to  personal  envy  and  jealousy, 
for  Conrad  was  one  of  the  bravest  and  at  the  same  time  one  of 
the  most  popular  of  the  Christian  leaders;  so  much  so  that  he 
was  elected  king  of  Jerusalem  with  great  enthusiasm.  But 
Richard  made  life  so  unpleasant  for  Conrad  that  the  latter  de- 
cided finally  to  cast  his  lot  with  Saladin.  He  offered  to  make 
peace  with  him  and  turn  against  the  Franks,  on  condition  that 
the  two  cities  of  Sidon  and  Beyrut  be  given  to  him.4  Reginald 
of  Sidon  acted  as  intermediary  between  the  two  parties,5  but 
before  all  arrangements  could  be  completed  Conrad  was  assas- 
sinated.8 Richard  was  unable  to  accomplish  very  much,  and 
was  finally  compelled  to  make  peace  with  Saladin.  At  the  close 
of  the  Crusade  Sidon  was  still  in  the  possession  of  Saladin.7 

In  1193  Saladin  died.8    For  several  years  there  was  so  much 

1  1189-1191. 

2  Ibn-al-Athir,  Al  K&mil,  year  586;  Recueil  des  hist,  descroisades,  Orientaux, 
II,  p.  32. 

3  Baha-addin,  Rec.  des  histor.,  Orientaux,  III,  p.  283;  cp.  Wilken,  Gesch. 
der  Kreuzzuge,  IV,  p.  307. 

*  Baha-addin,  Recueil  des  historiens  des  croisades,  Orientaux,  III,  p.  270. 
1  lb.,  p.  283.  •/&.,  p.  297. 

7  William  of  Tyre,  XXVI,  17.  8  Id.,  XXVII,  1. 


92  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

strife  among  his  successors  that  the  Christians  remained  undis- 
turbed. However,  in  1197  Joppa  was  attacked  and  captured  by 
Malik-al-Adil.1  In  the  same  year  died  King  Henry  of  Jerusalem, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Amalric,  king  of  Cyprus,  who  determined 
to  recover,  if  possible,  all  the  territory  lost  to  Saladin.  Orders 
were  issued  that  all  the  Crusaders  should  gather  at  Tyre,  whence 
they  were  to  proceed  to  Beyrut,  the  first  point  of  attack.  When 
Malik-al-Adil  heard  of  these  preparations  he  decided  at  once  to 
destroy  the  places  which  he  feared  he  would  not  be  able  to 
hold  against  the  Christians,  and  to  move  the  inhabitants  with 
their  possessions  to  more  distant  regions.  Immediately  he 
dispatched  an  army  to  Beyrut  to  destroy  it,  but  on  the  promise 
of  Usama,  the  lord  of  the  city,  that  he  could  hold  it  against  the 
Crusaders,  the  soldiers  desisted  from  the  work  of  destruction 
after  the  outer  walls  had  been  broken  down.  Meanwhile  the 
Christians  advanced  from  Tyre.  Near  Sidon  the  two  armies  met 
and  a  bloody  battle  ensued,  which  ended  in  victory  for  the 
Crusaders,  who  then  advanced  against  Beyrut,2  which  they  took 
with  ease.  While  they  were  in  Beyrut,  Al-Adil  sent  troops  to 
Sidon  with  orders  to  demolish  the  entire  city.3 

The  expectations  of  Amalric  were  not  realized;  therefore  in 
the  following  year  he  was  glad  to  make  a  truce  with  Malik-al- 
Adil  of  Damascus  and  Malik-al-Asis  of  Egypt.  This  truce  was 
maintained  until  1203,  when  new  hostilities  broke  out.  Some 
Christians  on  the  coast  of  Cyprus  were  robbed  by  the  sultan's 
sailors,  and  when  Amalric  made  complaint  he  could  obtain  no 
satisfaction.  He  therefore  captured,  near  Acco,  a  number  of 
Egyptian  ships  laden  with  grain  and  other  goods,  and  otherwise 
harassed  the  possessions  of  Al-Adil.     But  the  latter  showed  so 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XXVII,  2-4. 

2  Arnold  Lubec,  V,  5,  states  that  after  the  battle  the  Christian  army  made 
a  brief  stay  in  Sidon.  This  can  only  mean  that  they  encamped  in  the  fields 
near  the  city.  Had  they  entered  the  city  itself,  it  is  not  probable  that  they 
would  have  left  it  again  for  the  sake  of  occupying  a  less  prominent  town. 

3  Ibn-al-Athlr,  year  593;  Recueil  des  hist,  des  crois.,  Orientaux,  II,  p.  86. 
Gunther  Parisiensis,  Exuviae  Constant.,  I,  p.  63,  states  that  in  1200  Sidon 
was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  sultan. 


FIGHTING  NEAR  SIDON  93 

little  interest  in  the  renewal  of  hostilities  that  it  did  not  come  to 
a  serious  engagement ;  and  when  in  the  early  autumn  of  the  next 
year  pestilence  broke  out,  which  thinned  the  ranks  of  the  Chris- 
tian armies  and  caused  others  to  return  home  or  go  to  Constanti- 
nople, both  sides  were  ready  to  renew  the  truce.1  Al-Adil  was  the 
more  willing  to  bring  hostilities  to  a  close  because  his  presence 
was  needed  in  Egypt,2  which  was  in  danger  of  an  attack  from 
Constantinople.3  Therefore  he  even  made  certain  concessions 
to  the  Christians;  he  restored  to  them  Nazareth  and  a  few  other 
towns,  and  ceded  to  them  one-half  of  the  revenue  which  he 
received  from  Sidon  and  other  places.  As  soon  as  the  negotia- 
tions were  completed  he  went  to  Egypt.4 

After  the  death  of  Amalric  in  1205,5  the  sultan,  who  thought 
the  truce  dissolved  by  the  death  of  the  king  of  Jerusalem,  showed 
inclinations  to  harass  the  Christians,  but  neither  side  was  pre- 
pared for  hostilities.  As  a  result  the  truce  was  renewed,  and  it 
was  maintained  until  1217,  when  the  arrival  of  reinforcements 
from  the  west  led  the  Christians  to  break  it  and  renew  the  war.8 
Acco  was  selected  as  the  centre  of  operations.  Two  expeditions 
made  from  there  proved  successful,  but  on  a  third,  undertaken 
about  the  middle  of  December,  they  suffered  a  terrible  defeat. 
A  part  of  the  Christian  army  attacked  the  Moslems  near  Sidon, 
when  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountainous  region  behind  Sidon 
fell  upon  them  and  slew  many;  others  perished  from  the  cold, 
so  that  only  a  few  returned  to  Acco.7  Discouraged  by  this  dis- 
aster many  of  the  Crusaders  left  the  Holy  Land,  while  those  who 
remained  did  not  feel  strong  enough  to  continue  hostilities  until 
reinforcements   arrived  in   the   spring  of  the   following  year. 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XXVIII,  12. 

2  He  had  become  Sultan  of  Egypt  after  the  death  of  Malik-al-Asis. 

3  Wilken,  Geschichte  der  Kreuzziige,  VI,  p.  50. 

*  Ibn-al-Athir,  year  600;  Recueil  des  hist,  des  crois.,  Orientaux,  II,  p.  96. 

5  William  of  Tyre,  XXX,  11. 

'Id,,  XXXI,  10,  11.  In  1214  Bishop  Raoul  of  Sidon  was  elected  Patri- 
arch of  Jerusalem;  id.,  XXXI,  8;  Archives  de  I'or.  lat.,  II,  2,  p.  436. 

7  William  of  Tyre,  XXXI,  12;  Vincentius  Bellovacensis,  Speculum  historiale, 
in  Publ.  de  la  soc.  de  Vor.  Int.,  Ser.  hist.,  Ill,  p.  99. 


94  THE  PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

When  the  new  forces  were  organized  an  invasion  of  Egypt  was 
decided  upon.  The  chief  attack  was  directed  against  Damietta, 
which  yielded  in  1219. 

The  war  continued  until  1221,  when  Malik-al-Kamil1  sought 
peace.  He  offered  to  restore  to  the  Christians  Jerusalem, 
Ascalon,  Tiberias,  Sidon,  Gebala,  Ladikiya,  and  all  the  places 
Saladin  had  taken  from  them  in  maritime  Syria,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Karak,  if  they  would  vacate  Damietta.2  The  proposition 
was  refused;  but  soon  the  tide  turned  in  favor  of  the  sultan,  and 
when  a  new  truce  was  agreed  upon,  which  was  to  last  for  eight 
years,  it  was  decidedly  unfavorable  to  the  Christians.3 

When  the  Christians  in  the  west  heard  of  the  losses  sustained 
by  the  Crusaders  they  determined  to  send  reinforcements;  but 
not  until  1227  did  any  considerable  number  of  pilgrims  reach  the 
Holy  Land.  Of  the  first  company  a  group  of  German  and  English 
pilgrims  went  to  Sidon,  which  was  then  partly  in  ruins.  Since 
the  rebuilding  of  the  whole  city  seemed  too  difficult  a  task,  they 
were  content  with  erecting  a  citadel  upon  an  island  before  the 
harbor  of  Sidon,  which  they  completed  in  1228. 4  Then  they 
turned  to  Csesarea  and  restored  the  citadel  there.  On  the  com- 
pletion of  these  acts  of  piety  most  of  them  felt  that  they  had  per- 
formed their  whole  duty  and  went  home.  In  the  following  year 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Frederic  II,  led  a  new  army  of  Cru- 
saders into  the  Holy  Land.  Concerning  this  expedition  Ibn-al- 
Athir  writes:5  "In  that  year  many  Franks  came  to  the  coast  of 
Syria.  They  had  been  preceded  by  others,  who,  however,  had 
been  unable  to  accomplish  anything,  partly  because  of  the 
absence  of  their  leader,  the  prince  of  the  Germans,  and  partly 
because  Al-Muaddham,   an   intelligent,   brave,   and  energetic 

1  He  succeeded  Al-Adil  in  1218. 

2  Ibn-al-Athir,  Recueil  des  hist,  des  crois.,  Orientaux,  II,  p.  122;  cp.  William 
of  Tyre,  XXXII,  9;  Jacques  de  Vitry,  ep.,  TV. 

3  William  of  Tyre,  XXXII,  16;  cp.  Wilken,  Gesch.  der  Kreuzziige,  VI,  p.  346ff. 
*  William  of  Tyre,  XXXII,  25;  XXXIII,  4;  Phil,  de  Navarre,  §  125;  see  also 

above,  p.  4.     A  variant — Rec.  des  histor.  des  crois.,  Occid.,  II,  p.  371 — says 
that  the  Germans  built  another  castle  which  they  called  "Frank  Castle." 
*AlKdmil  year  625. 


FREDERIC  II   RETAKES  SIDON  95 

prince,  was  still  alive.  But  when  he  died  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  the  Franks  took  courage  and  made  themselves  masters 
of  Acco,  Tyre,  Beyrut,  and  the  city  of  Sidon,  only  part  of  which 
had  previously  been  in  their  power."  From  this  narrative  it 
would  seem  that  Sidon  and  the  other  cities  named  were  taken  by 
force  of  arms.  This  is  not  probable,  for  Frederic  appears  to  have 
accomplished  his  ends  through  diplomacy.  The  continuator  of 
William  of  Tyre  is  probably  nearer  the  truth  when  he  states  that 
the  part  of  the  city  of  Sidon  which  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
Moslems  was  returned  to  Frederic  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  the 
truce  made  on  February  24,  1229,  which  was  to  continue  for  ten 
years  five  months  and  some  days.1  At  that  time  the  entire 
city  of  Sidon  passed  once  more  into  the  hands  of  the  Christians. 

Notwithstanding  the  truce,  hostilities  between  Christians  and 
Moslems  continued  without  interruption.  That  neither  gained 
any  decided  advantages  was  due  to  the  fact  that  both  sides  were 
torn  by  bloody  quarrels.  Among  the  Christians  the  leaders  of 
the  two  factions  were  John  of  Ibelin,  lord  of  Beyrut,  and  Richard, 
representative  of  Frederic  II,  both  of  whom  claimed  the  throne 
of  Jerusalem.  In  these  struggles  Balian,  the  lord  of  Sidon, 
sided  with  Ibelin.2  Among  the  Moslems  the  factional  warfare 
was  even  more  bitter.  Malik-al-Asraf  of  Damascus  died  in  1237, 
and  appointed  as  his  successor  Malik-as-Salih-Isma'il,  prince 
of  Baalbek  and  Basra,  who,  however,  was  quickly  driven  out  by 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  Kamil.  When  the  latter  died  in  1238,  his 
son  Malik-al-Adil  was  recognized  by  the  nobles  of  the  realm  as 
Sultan  of  Egypt  and  Damascus.  This  was  not  to  the  liking  of 
his  brother,  Malik-as-Salih-Ayyub,  who  put  him  out  of  the  way 
and  in  1240  made  himself  ruler  of  Egypt  and  Damascus.  In 
the  same  year  Malik-as-Salih-Isma/il  returned  to  Damascus,  and 
quickly  made  himself  master  of  the  city  and  of  the  throne.  Fear- 
ing that  he  would  not  be  strong  enough  to  defend  the  city  against 

1  WUliam  of  Tyre,  XXXIII,  8;  cp.  Rohricht,  Die  Kreuzfahrt  Friedrich  Ur 
p.  26;  Kugler,  Gesch.  der  Kreuzzilge,  p.  339. 

2  William  of  Tyre,  XXXIII,  24,  28,  29,  34;  Phil,  de  Navarre,  §§  182, 183. 


96  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

Ayyub,  he  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the  Christians,  prom- 
ising them,  in  return  for  their  aid,  the  restoration  of  several 
places  which  at  that  time  were  in  his  power.1  When  Ayyub 
heard  of  this  alliance  he  summoned  to  his  aid  the  Khares- 
mians,  wild  hordes  of  Turks  roaming  around  in  the  Euphrates 
and  Tigris  regions.  They  responded  eagerly,  entered  Syria, 
captured  Jerusalem  in  1244,  and  assisted  Ayyub  in  other  ways 
to  recover  control  of  Syria  and  Palestine. 

The  loss  of  Jerusalem  and  the  threatening  advance  of  the  Mon- 
gols called  forth  another  Crusade,2  under  the  leadership  of  Louis 
IX  of  France.  He  directed  his  first  attack  against  Egypt. 
Early  successes  were  followed  by  disasters,  until  finally  Louis 
was  captured.  After  he  had  secured  his  release  by  the  payment 
of  an  enormous  ransom,3  he  went  in  1250  to  Acco,  but  being 
without  resources  he  could  accomplish  little.  While  waiting 
for  reinforcements  he  determined  to  fortify  Acco,  Sidon,  and 
Csesarea.  At  first  he  encountered  no  obstacles,  because  fresh 
hostilities  had  broken  out  between  Damascus  and  Egypt.  But 
when  in  1253  the  difficulties  between  the  Sultan  of  Damascus  and 
the  Emirs  of  Egypt  were  adjusted,  the  Moslems  at  once  turned 
their  attention  to  the  Christians.  The  first  engagement  took 
place  near  Joppa,  then  Acco  was  besieged,  and  finally  Sidon  was 
attacked.  This  city  had  been  destroyed  by  the  troops  of  Ayyub 
during  the  campaign  of  Louis  in  Egypt,4  but  after  his  arrival  in 
Palestine  he  had  ordered  the  rebuilding  of  the  city.  The  order 
had  been  partly  carried  out,  under  the  direction  of  Simon  de 
Montsceliart,  when  the  new  attack  occurred.  Simon,  realizing 
the  impossibility  of  holding  the  city  against  a  numerous  army, 
retired  to  the  citadel  with  his  troops  and  as  many  of  the  inhabit- 

1  William  of  Tyre,  XXXIII,  48,  names  among  the  districts  to  be  restored 
la  terre  de  Sajette,  which  denotes  ordinarily  the  land  of  Sidon;  but  it  cannot 
be  meant  here,  because  Sidon  had  been  returned  to  the  Christians  eleven 
years  before.     Sajette  may  be  an  error  for  Safed;  cp.  also  Phil,  de  Nav.  §  215. 

2  1248-1254. 

■  See  Kugler,  Gesch.  der  Kreuzzilge,  pp.  364-372. 

4  Chron.  of  the  Crusades,  p.  545;  cp.  Michaud,  Bibliotheque  des  croisades,  IV, 
p.  453. 


SIDON   DESTROYED   BY  MONGOLS  97 

ants  as  could  find  room  there.  The  enemy  entered  the  city 
without  opposition,  slaughtered  2,000  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  after  pillaging  the  town  departed  for  Damascus.1  On 
hearing  the  news  of  this  calamity  the  king  was  much  depressed, 
but  at  the  suggestion  of  his  barons  he  issued  a  new  order  for 
the  immediate  rebuilding  and  fortification  of  the  city.  The 
task  was  completed  in  1254,2  and  soon  after  Louis  returned  to 
his  homeland. 

In  the  following  year  a  truce  was  agreed  upon,  which  was  to 
continue  for  ten  years.  But  soon  a  new  danger  threatened  the 
cities  of  Syria,  both  Christian  and  Moslem.  For  some  time  the 
Mongols  had  been  extending  their  territory  in  Mesopotamia  and 
Asia  Minor.  In  1260  they  turned  southward  and  invaded  Syria. 
Before  the  close  of  the  year  Sidon  brought  upon  itself  the  wrath 
of  their  leader,  Kethboga.  In  the  vicinity  of  Beaufort,  which 
belonged  to  the  lord  of  Sidon,  there  were  a  few  Moslem  villages 
which  were  subject  to  the  Mongols.  The  Franks  living  in 
Sidon  and  Beaufort  fell  treacherously  upon  these  villages,  slew 
some  of  the  inhabitants  and  carried  away  others  with  their 
flocks.  A  nephew  of  Kethboga,  who  demanded  the  return  of 
the  prisoners,  they  slew,  and  the  demands  of  the  leader  himself 
they  treated  with  scorn.  The  latter,  who  until  then  had  been 
favorably  inclined  toward  the  Christians,  became  furious  and 
advanced  immediately  against  Sidon,  which  he  reduced  to  a 
heap  of  ruins.  The  inhabitants  took  refuge  in  the  citadel  upon 
the  island,3  which  he  was  unable  to  take.  Julian,  the  lord  of 
Sidon4  and  Beaufort,  who  desired  to  withdraw  from  the  world  and 
enter  the  order  of  Trinitarians,5  sold  the  ruins  to  the  Templars.6 

1  Joinville,  Memoires,  p.  357.  William  of  Tyre,  XXXIV,  2,  gives  the  number 
of  the  slain  as  800  or  more,  and  states  that  400  were  taken  prisoners. 

1  Joinville;  p.  358 ;  W.  T.,  XXXIV,  2.  3  See  above,  p.  94. 

*  Archives  de  Vor.  kit.,  II,  2,  p.  445.  5  William  of  Tyre,  XXXIV,  20. 

6  Id.,  XXXIV,  3 ;  Chron.  du  tempi,  de  Tyr,  in  Publ.  de  la  soc.  Vor.  lat. ,  Ser. 
histor.,  V,  §  303;  cp.  308;  Archives  de  Vor.  lat.,  II,  2,  p.  449.  Julian  was  the 
son  of  Giles,  lord  of  Sidon,  who  died  in  1247 — Chron.,  in  Publ.,  hist.,  V,  §  260 — 
the  son  of  Balian,  lord  of  Sidon — Phil,  de  Navarre,  ib.,  §  116;  Chron.  de  Terre 
Sainte,  ib.,  §  90;  Archives,  II,  2,  pp.  151,  153,  166,  167,  437,  438. 


98  THE   PERIOD   OF  THE  CRUSADES 

The  Mongols  could  not  maintain  themselves  in  Syria,  and  in  a 
little  while  the  supremacy  passed  again  into  the  hands  of  the 
Moslems.  In  the  year  in  which  Sidon  was  destroyed  by  the 
Mongols  Malik-at-thahir-Baibars  became  Sultan  of  Egypt.  In 
the  beginning  he  treated  the  Christians  with  friendly  considera- 
tion, but  in  1261  hostilities  broke  out.  After  a  year's  fighting 
a  truce  was  declared,  which  three  years  later  was  broken  by 
the  Christians.  When  they  saw  that  the  war  was  going  against 
them  *  they  asked  for  peace,  declaring  their  willingness  to  accept 
as  one  of  the  conditions  the  division  of  Sidon.2  At  first  the  sul- 
tan hesitated,  because  he  had  heard  that  meanwhile  the  Franks 
had  made  an  attack  upon  Mahghara;3  but  in  the  following  year 
a  ten-year  truce  was  proclaimed,  one  of  the  conditions  being  the 
division  of  Sidon.  The  Franks  were  to  retain  the  districts  in 
the  plain,  Baibars  was  to  occupy  the  hills.4 

During  the  closing  years  of  the  struggle  between  Christians  and 
Moslems  Sidon  remained  in  the  background.5  However,  the 
city  became  involved  in  the  difficulties  which  arose  between 
Boemund,  lord  of  Tripolis,  and  the  order  of  the  Templars,  and  in 
1279  the  former  sent  a  fleet  to  Sidon  which  did  much  damage  and 
carried  away  rich  booty.6 

The  end  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  approaching  rapidly. 
The  west  began  to  see  the  hopelessness  of  the  struggle  and  ceased 
to  send  reinforcements,  while  the  limited  resources  in  Palestine 
were  expended  by  the  Christian  leaders  in  fighting  one  another. 
When  in  1290  the  Christians  broke  the  truce  which  had  been 
agreed  upon  only  a  short  time  before,  and  afterwards  refused  to 
surrender  the  guilty  parties,  the  sultan  declared  war.7    The 

1  From  Archives  de  Vor.  lat.,  II,  1,  382,  it  would  seem  that  an  army  threat- 
ened Sidon. 

2  Badr-addin  al  'Aini,  'Ikd  al-jumdn,  year  665. 

3  lb.;  cp.  Archives  de  V orient  latin,  II,  1,  p.  388. 

4  Badr-addin,  year  666;  Recueil  des  hist,  des  crois.,  Orientaux,  II,  p.  236; 
Arch,  de  Vor.  lat.,  II,  1,  p.  394. 

5  In  1274  Adam  of  Romery  became  Bishop  of  Sidon,  W.  T.,  XXXIV,  19. 

*  Chron.  du  tempi,  de  Tyr,  in  Publ.  de  la  soc.  de  V orient  latin,  Se>.  histor.,  Vol. 
V,    §  400.  7  Wilken,  Gesch.  der  Kreuzziige,  VII,  p.  719ff. 


WITHDRAWAL   OF  CHRISTIANS  99 

first  blow  was  directed  against  Acco,  then  the  principal  city  of 
the  Christians  on  the  coast,  and  after  a  two  months'  siege  the 
Saracens  became  masters  of  the  city  in  1291.  The  Templars 
who  escaped  from  Acco  fled  to  Sidon,  intending  to  make  a  stand 
there;  but  when  the  Moslems  made  preparations  to  besiege  the 
city  from  land  and  sea  they  withdrew  to  Cyprus,  whereupon 
city  and  citadel  were  razed  to  the  ground.  "After  the  fall  of 
Acco,"  says  Abu'1-Fida,  "God  filled  the  hearts  of  the  Franks 
who  were  still  in  Syria  with  terror.  They  evacuated  Sidon  and 
Beyrut,  which  two  cities  were  occupied  by  As-Sajai  during  the 
last  week  of  Rajab. ' H 

Thus,  after  many  vicissitudes,  Sidon,  a  renowned  and  popu- 
lous city  at  the  beginning  of  the  Crusades,  returned  at  the  close 
to  the  Moslems,  little  more  than  a  heap  of  ruins. 

Appendix  to  Chapter  VI 

The  writings  of  the  pilgrims  who  visited  Sidon  during  the  period 
of  the  Crusades  throw  little  light  upon  its  history.  Saewulf ,  who 
undertook  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land  in  1102-1103,  mentions 
Sidon  as  still  in  the  hands  of  "Duke  Raymund,"  i.e.,  Raymond, 
Count  of  Toulouse.2  The  Russian  Abbot  Daniel,  1106  or  1107, 
refers  only  incidentally  to  the  city.3  The  guide  to  Palestine 
which  goes  under  the  name  of  Fretellus,  written  c.  1130, 
mentions  several  traditions  connected  with  Sidon:  "Fourteen 
miles  from  Tyre  is  Sidon.  Sidon  was  founded  by  Sidon,  the 
firstborn  of  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  from  whom  the  Sidonians 
are  descended.  In  Tyre  and  Sidon  reigned  Phoenix,  who  was 
the  brother  of  Cadmus  of  Thebes  in  Egypt,  who  came  to  Syria.4 

1  Mukhtasar  ta'rikh  al  basar,  year  690;  Chron.  du  tempi,  de  Tyr,  §§  509-518. 
Annales  de  Terre  Sainte,  in  Archives  de  I'or.  lat.,  II,  2,  p.  460,  places  the  attack 
in  the  year  1290. 

2  P.  P.  T.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  127. 

3  Publ.  de  la  soc.  de  I'or.  lat.,  Ser.  geogr.,  IV,  p.  54. 

4  See  note  10  on  p.  10;  also  p.  20;  cp.  Stephenus  Byzantius,  s.v.  tyoivitui, 
Eustathius,  ad  Dionys.,  I.  905. 


100  THE   PERIOD  OF  THE  CRUSADES 

From  his  name  he  called  those  people  Phoenicians,  and  the  whole 

province  Phoenicia,  of  which  Tyre  had  the  first  rank 

From  the  confines  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  came  the  Canaanite  woman 
who  said  to  Jesus,  '  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  upon  me. '  .  .  .  . 
Six  miles  from  Sidon,  above  the  sea,  toward  Tyre,  is  Sarepta  of 
the  Sidonians.  In  the  mountains  of  Sidon  and  Sarepta  is 
Gethacofer,1  the  town  from  which  came  Jonah.  Of  Sidon  was 
Dido,  who  built  Carthage  in  Africa.2  Sidon  was  acquired  by  the 
Phoenicians  and  held  by  them;  they  confirmed  its  name  Sidon 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  fish,  because  in  their  language 
sidon  means  fish."3  John  of  Wurzburg,  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
twelfth  century,  says:  ''Six  miles  from  Sarepta  is  Sidon,  a 
famous  city,  from  which  came  Dido,  who  founded  Carthage  in 
Africa.' "  Joannes  Phocas,  c.  1185,  has  left  this  description: 
1  *  Nextoomes  Sidon  with  the  famous  twin  harbor,  whose  situation 
has  been  admirably  described  by  the  historian  of  Leucippe  f  for  if 
you  visit  the  place,  with  its  harbor  and  outer  harbor,  you  will 
find  the  reality  agreeing  with  the  description  given  in  his  writings. 
Outside  the  city,  at  a  distance  of  about  three  bowshots,  stands 
a  church,  surrounded  by  a  colonnade  of  great  length,  upon  the 
upper  part  of  the  apse  of  which  is  placed  a  four-sided  stone, 
whereon,  according  to  the  report  of  the  vulgar,  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  used  to  stand  and  teach  the  multitude. ' ,ft 
Theodoric,  c.  1172,  speaks  of  Sidon  as  a  "noble  city,  from  which 
came  Dido,  who  founded  Carthage  in  Africa."7  Anonymous 
pilgrim  V,  2,8  toward  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  says  that 
in  Sidon  resided  a  bishop,  who  was  a  suffragan  bishop  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Tyre.9    Anonymous  pilgrim  VI,  called  Pseudo- 

1  According  to  2  K.  14:  25  the  home  of  Jonah  was  in  Gathhepher.  The 
same  place  is  mentioned  in  Josh.  19:  13.  It  is  identified  with  the  present 
village  of  el-Meshhed. 

2Cp.  Virgil,  Mn.,  I,  446,  613.  3  P.  P.  T.,  V,  50,  51. 

*  lb.,  V,  p.  63.  B  Achilles  Tatius;  see  above,  p.  4. 

•  Rec.  des  histor.  des  crois.,  Grecs,  I,  p.  531.  7  P.  P.  T.,  V,  p.  72. 

8  The  term  Anonymous  is  applied  to  several  pilgrims  whose  names  have  not 
been  preserved. 

9  lb.,  VI,  p.  31. 


CHRISTIAN   PILGRIMS  101 

Beda,  also  in  the  twelfth  century,  writes : ' '  Six  miles  from  Sarepta 
is  Sidon,  whence  came  Dido,  who  built  Carthage  in  Africa. 
Sidon  is,  being  interpreted,  'seeking  after  sorrow';  Tyre, 
'trading.'  It  was  from  these  parts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  that 
the  Canaanitish  woman  came  to  Jesus. ' ' * 

1  lb.,  VI,  p.  49 


102  TO   THE  PRESENT  DAY 


CHAPTER  VII 

TO  THE   PKESENT  DAY 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Christians  and  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  Moslem  dominion,  Syria,  including  Phoenicia, 
belonged  nominally  to  the  ruler  of  Egypt;  in  reality  it  was  par- 
celed out  among  a  number  of  minor  sultans,  the  descendants  of 
Saladin  and  his  brothers.1  Al-Dimaski,  writing  about  1300  A.D., 
states  that  since  the  rise  of  the  Turk  power,  meaning  the  dynasty 
of  Saladin,  Syria  had  been  divided  into  nine  kingdoms.  Of  these 
he  gives  first  rank  to  Damascus,  and  Sidon  he  names  as  one  of 
its  cities.2 

Three  years  before  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem, 
Othman  or  Osman  I  became  the  chief  of  the  Turks  in  Phrygia. 
His  surname  al-ghdzi,  i.e.,  the  conqueror,  indicates  that  he  was  a 
warrior.  During  his  reign3  he  subjected  the  whole  of  western 
Asia  Minor  to  his  sway.4  From  the  conquest  of  Asia  Minor  and 
the  Danubian  provinces  of  the  Byzantine  empire  the  Turks 
advanced,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to  Constanti- 
nople, which  was  taken  in  1453.  During  the  reign  of  Bajazid 
II 5  their  advance  was  checked  temporarily,  but  under  his  suc- 
cessor, Selim  I,6  Syria  was  occupied,7  Sidon  without  a  battle;8 
and  since  then  Syria,  including  Phoenicia,  has  been  under  the 
rule  of  the  Turks. 

For  many  years  subsequent  to  1291  Sidon  played  an  unim- 
portant role.  Centuries  passed  before  she  recovered,  even  in  a 
measure,  from  the  severe  blows  which  she  sustained  during  the 

1  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  p.  40. 

2  Nukhbat  ad-dahr,  ed.  Mehren,  p.  201 ;  cp.  212,  213.  Yakut,  Mu'jam  al- 
bulddn,  ed.  Wustenfeld,  III,  439. 

3 1288-1325.  *  V.  Hammer,  Gesch.  des  Osmanischen  Reiches,  p.  41ff. 

5 1481-1512.  •  Died  September  22, 1520. 

7  In  1516.  8  Mignot,  History  of  the  Turkish  or  Ottoman  Empire,  I,  270. 


PERIOD   OF  DECLINE  103 

period  of  the  Crusades;  in  fact  she  has  never  regained  the  splendor 
which  was  hers  before  that  time.  The  last  glowing  description 
of  the  city  is  one  written  by  Idrisi,  c.  1154.  ' '  Sidon, ' '  says  he, 
"  is  a  large  city,  where  the  markets  are  thronged  and  provisions 
are  cheap.  It  is  surrounded  by  gardens  and  trees,  water  is 
plenty,  and  it  has  broad  outlying  districts.  The  city  owns 
four  districts,  which  lie  contiguous  to  the  Lebanon  mountains. 
The  first  is  the  district  of  Jazin,  through  which  runs  the  wddy-al- 
Hirr,  which  is  noted  for  its  fertility  and  the  abundance  of  its 
fruits.  The  second  is  the  district  as-Surbah,  which  is  a  splendid 
district.  The  third  is  the  district  of  Kafar  Kila.  The  fourth  is 
the  district  of  ar-Rami,  which  is  the  name  of  a  river  that  flows 
through  the  hills.  These  four  districts  contain  more  than  six 
hundred  domains."1  Very  different  are  the  reports  written 
subsequently  to  the  thirteenth  century.  Abu'1-Fida,  c.  1321, 
says,  "It  is  a  small  town,  but  fortified."2  A  guide  book  to 
Palestine,  compiled  c.  1350,  does  indeed  call  Sidon  a  ' '  famous 
city, ' ,3  but  the  epithet  refers  to  the  past  history  rather  than  to 
the  present.  From  the  same  period  comes  the  testimony  of 
Ludolf  of  Sudheim,  who  calls  Sidon  ' '  a  seaside  city,  fenced  about 
with  towers  and  high  walls,  but  deserted."4  In  the  fifteenth 
century  it  was  still  without  its  former  splendor.  John  Poloner, 
who  visited  the  Holy  Land  in  1421-1422,  has  this  to  say :  ' '  Sidon 
is  a  city  of  Phoenicia;  its  ruins  at  this  day  bear  witness  to  its 

greatness Out  of  its  ruins  has  been  built  another  town, 

small  indeed  but  fortified,  had  it  but  men  to  defend  it. ;  ,5  Felix 
Fabri,  a  Dominican  monk  who  journeyed  to  Palestine  in  1480- 
1483,  did  not  see  Sidon;  hence  his  reference  to  Tyre  and  Sidon  as 
' ' great  cities"6  cannot  be  taken  seriously. 

1  Nuzhat  al  Mustdk,  ed.  Gildemeister,  p.  15. 

2  Takuim-al-bulddn,  ed.  Reinaud  et  de  Slane,  p.  249.     See  also  Koehler, 
Tabula  Syria,  p.  93. 

3  P.  P.  T.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  39.  4  Archives  de  V orient  latin,  II,  2,  p.  339. 
5  P.  P.  T.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  29.     A  few  years  before  this  visit,  c.  1404,  European 

pirates  had  raided  the  city.  Lane-Poole,  A  History  of  Egypt  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  p.  335.  6  P.  P.  T.,  VII,  1,  p.  211. 


104  TO  THE   PRESENT   DAY 

From  all  these  statements  we  may  gather  that  after  its  destruc- 
tion in  1291  Sidon  was  rebuilt  and  refortified,  that  a  small  popu- 
lation settled  in  the  new  town,  and  that  some  commerce  was 
carried  on,1  but  that  Sidon  could  no  longer  be  looked  upon  as  a 
chief  city  of  Phoenicia.  When  Sandys  visited  the  city  in  1610- 
1611  it  still  appeared  in  its  poverty.  "But  this  once  ample 
city,"  says  he,  "still  suffering  with  the  often  changes  of  those 
countries,  is  at  this  day  contracted  within  narrow  limits,  and 

only  shows  the  foundations  of  her  greatness The  town 

now  being  is  not  worth  our  description;  the  walls  are  neither 
fair  nor  of  force;  the  haven  decayed,  when  at  best  but  serving 
for  galleys.  At  the  end  of  the  pier  stands  a  paltry  blockhouse, 
furnished  with  suitable  artillery.  The  mosque,  the  Bannia  (per- 
haps the  public  bath),  and  Khan  for  merchants  are  the  only 
buildings  of  note. ' ,2 

Soon  after  Sandys'  visit  the  city  revived  for  a  few  decades. 
When  the  Druses  settled  in  the  Lebanon  region,  Sidon  came 
under  the  sway  of  the  Emir  of  the  Lebanon.3  In  1585  the 
Emir  Korkmas  was  poisoned,4  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Fakhr-addin,  a  boy  of  fourteen  years.5  The  sultan  took  advan- 
tage of  his  youth  and  reduced  his  territory  by  separating  from 
it  Sidon  and  a  few  other  towns.  As  soon  as  Fakhr-addin 
began  to  rule  independently,  he  determined  not  only  to 
recover  the  lost  cities,  but  to  wrest  the  whole  of  Syria  from  the 
sultan  and  establish  an  independent  kingdom.  In  a  short  time 
he  regained  Sidon,  and  in  addition  he  conquered  many  other 
cities  of  Syria.  With  this  conquest  opened  the  last  period  of 
Sidon's  glory.    Fakhr-addin  decided  to  make  it  his  capital  and  a 

1  Cp.  Prise  d' Alexandrie,  by  Guillaume  de  Machaut,  I.  5708,  in  Publ.  de  la 
soc.  de  I'or.  lat.,  S6r.  histor.,  I,  p.  173. 

2  Relation  of  a  journey  begun  in  1610,  2d  ed.,  p.  210. 

3  Wustenfeld,  Fachr-ed-Din  und  seine  Zeitgenossen,  in  Abhandlungen  der 
Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften  in  Gottingen,  1885,  Vol.  XXXIII,  p.  78.  Dur- 
ing the  expedition  of  Ibrahim  Pasha  to  Syria,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the 
Druses  to  obedience,  a  Turkish  fleet  landed  in  Sidon;  id.,  p.  84. 

*  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  VIII,  480. 

5  Wustenfeld,  Fachr-ed-Din,  p.  87. 


REVIVAL   UNDER   FAKHR-ADDIN  105 

worthy  centre  of  his  new  kingdom.  He  rebuilt  the  citadel  and 
surrounded  the  city  with  a  new  wall.  Italian  architects  erected 
for  him  a  magnificent  palace,  surrounded  by  various  other  halls 
and  palaces.  These  were  located  in  the  midst  of  gardens,  ter- 
races, and  orchards,  beautiful  with  flowers,  fountains,  boule- 
vards, etc.1  The  plain  surrounding  the  city  was  planted  with 
mulberry  trees.  For  the  advancement  of  commerce  he  erected 
the  "great  Khan,"  so  called  because  it  was  of  immense  size, 
containing  many  magazines  and  storerooms;  here  were  located 
also  the  first  European  factory,  the  residences  and  warehouses 
of  the  French  merchants,  a  drug  store,  residences  for  physicians, 
places  of  worship,  etc.  These  accommodations  attracted  the 
commerce  of  the  west,  and  since  religious  liberty  was  granted 
to  all  the  city  soon  began  to  flourish  in  its  oldtime  splendor.2 

The  commerce  of  Sidon  was  at  that  time  and  for  many  years 
after  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  Frenchmen,3  and  their 
nation  was  for  a  long  time  the  only  European  power  to  have  a 
consular  representative  there.  In  a  little  while  their  trade 
grew  to  such  proportions  that  it  brought  annually  200,000  crowns 
into  the  treasury  of  the  government,  and  it  was  so  essential  to 
the  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  that,  says  d'Arvieux,  had  the 
French  removed  to  another  place,  the  city  would  have  been 
immediately  abandoned  and  left  deserted.  From  Sidon  as  the 
centre  branches  were  established  in  the  other  coast  cities,  Acco, 
Beyrut,  Tripolis,  Tyre;  and  from  it  a  direct  route  led  to  Damascus, 
of  which  city  it  was  considered  the  port.4  The  city  seemed 
destined  to  resume  the  leadership  which  it  had  occupied  during 
the  Persian  period,  when  Fakhr-addin  by  a  single  blow  de- 
stroyed all  prospects  of  permanent  commercial  supremacy.     In 


1  D'Arvieux,  Memoir -es,  I,  p.  303ff. 

2  Wustenfeld,  Fachr-ed-Din,  p.  87 ;  S.  Pierre,  Histoire  des  Druses,  Paris, 
1763,  p.  25. 

3  D'Arvieux,  Memoires,  I,  pp.  311,  398,  etc. 

*  For  a  full  description  of  the  new  splendor  of  Sidon,  the  building  enter- 
prises of  Fakhr-addin,  its  commerce,  etc.,  see  d'Arvieux,  Memoires,  I,  294ff., 
331ff.,  463ff. ;  III,  341ff. 


106  TO   THE  PRESENT  DAY 

order  to  prevent  the  Turkish  ships  from  landing  at  Sidon  he 
ordered  the  harbor  to  be  filled  up  by  sinking  in  it  old  boats, 
stones,  and  rubbish.1  As  a  result  the  sun  of  Sidon  set  almost  as 
soon  as  that  of  Fakhr-addin  in  1634.  Little  remained  of  its 
splendor  when  Henry  Maundrell  visited  the  place  in  1697. 
" Sidon/'  says  he,  "is  stocked  well  enough  with  inhabitants, 
but  is  very  much  shrunk  from  its  ancient  extent,  and  more  from 
its  splendor,  as  appears  from  a  great  many  beautiful  pillars  that 
lie  scattered  up  and  down  the  gardens  without  the  present  walls. 
Whatever  antiquities  may  at  any  time  have  been  hereabout, 
they  are  now  perfectly  obscured  and  buried  by  the  Turkish 
buildings.  Upon  the  south  side  of  the  city,  upon  a  hill,  stands 
an  old  castle,  said  to  be  the  work  of  Louis  IX  of  France,  sur- 
named  the  Saint,  and  not  far  from  the  castle  is  an  old  unfinished 
palace  of  Fakhr-addin,  serving,  however,  the  pasha  for  his 
seraglio;  neither  of  them  worth  mentioning,  had  the  city  afforded 
us  anything  else  more  remarkable."2  Sidon  became  the  seat  of 
the  pasha  in  1658,  and  continued  to  be  such  for  over  a  century. 
The  pasha  still  resided  there  when  Niebuhr  visited  the  city  in 
1766.  The  city  itself  was  in  as  bad  condition  as  in  the  days  of 
Maundrell.  It  did  not  have  even  a  regular  wall.  The  outer 
walls  of  the  houses  served  as  fortifications  of  the  city,  and  where 
they  did  not  join  closely  an  effort  had  been  made  to  provide  a 
connecting  wall.  The  citadel,  which  had  a  small  garrison, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  police  the  city  and  protect  the  harbor,  was 
in  miserable  condition,  and  had  just  enough  cannons  to  respond 
to  salutes  that  might  be  fired  by  passing  ships.  The  inner  harbor 
could  be  entered  by  small  vessels  only.3  Volney,  who  visited 
the  city  during  his  travels  in  1784,  calls  Sidon  the  degenerate 
offspring  of  ancient  Sidon,  and  describes  it  as  ill  built,  dirty, 
and  full  of  modern  ruins.4 
In  return  for  services  rendered  during  the  Egyptian  invasion 

1  Volney,  Voyage  en  Syrie  et  en  Egypte,  II,  192. 

2  Journey  from  Aleppo  to  Jerusalem  at  Easter  1697;  Diary  of  March  19. 

3  Reisebeschreibung,  III,  pp.  78,  79. 

4  Voyage  en  Syrie  et  en  Egypte,  II,  p.  191. 


LOSS  OF  COMMERCE  107 

of  Syria,  and  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  position  of 
Turkey  against  the  Druses  and  Metawelis  who  were  threatening 
the  coast  cities,  the  sultan  appointed  in  1773  as  Pasha  of  Sidon 
Ahmad-al-Jazzar,  the  most  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  adventurer 
of  the  Turkish  army.  After  he  had  pacified  the  rebels  he 
entered  upon  a  reign  of  terror.  He  caused  the  death  of  the 
Emir  of  the  Druses,  who  had  been  his  benefactor,  in  order  that 
he  might  secure  his  treasures  and  other  possessions;  he  put  to 
death  several  of  the  Turkish  pashas  who  were  in  the  way  of  his 
ambitions,  and  the  people  he  oppressed  with  extreme  cruelty. 
As  a  result  he  had  to  stand  in  constant  fear  of  revolts;  to  be  pre- 
pared for  these  he  transferred  his  residence  from  Sidon,  which 
was  without  adequate  defenses,  to  the  strongly  fortified  Acco,1 
where  he  exercised  his  rule  of  terror  for  about  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  When  the  French  merchants  in  Sidon  offered  opposi- 
tion to  his  despotism  and  greed  and  presented  accusations 
against  him  before  the  sultan,  he  drove  them  in  1791  from  the 
city  and  his  other  possessions.2  This  act  of  folly  proved  a  serious 
blow  to  the  city,  for  it  resulted  in  the  transfer  of  the  French 
commerce  to  Beyrut  and  Tripolis,3  while  Sidon  was  given  a  set- 
back from  which  it  has  never  recovered.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  commerce  of  Sidon  had  been  reduced 
to  almost  nothing.  De  Marcellus  wrote  in  1816/  that  for  sev- 
eral years  the  commerce  of  the  city  had  been  practically  dead, 
and  that  the  last  French  consul,  during  a  stay  of  seven  years,  had 
seen  only  one  French  vessel  enter  the  harbor,  and  it  had  been 
driven  there  by  a  storm.  During  the  nineteenth  century  the 
city  has  revived  somewhat,  but  it  will  never  again  become  the 
leader  of  commerce  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean. 


1  Ibid.,  pp.  164,  165. 

2  Olivier,  Voyage  dans  V empire  d'Othoman,  I'Egypte,  et  la  Perse,  II,  p.  231. 
Verney  et  Dambmann,  Les  puissances  6trangeres  dans  le  Levant,  p.  364; 
P.  E.  F.,  1906,  p.  138,  quoted  from  Browne,  Travels  in  Africa,  Egypt  and 
Syria,  from  the  year  1792  to  1798. 

3  Michaud  et  Poujoulat,  Correspondance  d'Orient,  V,  p.  516ff. 
*  Souvenirs  de  VOrient,  p.  228. 


108  TO   THE  PRESENT   DAY 

The  condition  of  its  harbor  and  the  nearness  of  Beyrut,  which 
draws  everything  to  itself,  prevents  its  rapid  growth.  In  1837 
Sidon  suffered  severely  from  an  earthquake,  in  which  about  100 
buildings  were  damaged.1  Three  years  later  the  harbor  for- 
tress was  attacked  and  the  city  captured  by  the  combined  fleet 
of  the  European  powers  who  sought  to  drive  Mehemet  Ali  from 
Syria.2  Travelers  who  visited  the  city  during  the  first  half 
of  the  century  estimated  the  population  variously  from  5,000 
to  10,000.  In  1858  it  was  said  to  be  about  9,000.  Of  these 
6,800  were  Moslems,  850  Greek  Catholics,  750  Maronites,  150 
United  Greeks,  and  300  Jews.3  Nearly  all  the  travelers  call 
attention  to  the  wretched  condition  of  the  place  and  its  peo- 
ple; only  rarely  one  allows  his  imagination  to  soar  and  to 
paint  a  more  hopeful  picture.  "The  whole  appearance  of 
Sidon,"  says  al-Mukattem  (H.  Crosby),  "formed  an  epoch  in 
our  journey.  We  suddenly  lost  sight  of  the  lazy,  dilapidated 
Orient  in  the  life  and  bustle  of  a  large  and  busy  town  as  is 
Sidon,  and  saw  in  its  inhabitants  a  tone  of  rank  and  intelli- 
gence that  we  had  not  witnessed  since  leaving  Cairo."4  Dur- 
ing the  persecutions  of  the  Christians  by  the  Moslems  and  of 
the  Maronites  by  the  Druses  in  I860,5  the  Christians  in  Sidon 
were  subjected  to  severe  suffering. 

In  1902,  M.  Angel,  who  was  commissioned  by  the  Alliance 
Israelite  to  study  the  situation  in  Sidon  with  a  view  of  estab- 
lishing a  Jewish  school  there,  presented  a  picture  of  the  city's 
desolation  in  these  words  :  "  I  have  visited  the  most  ancient 
quarters  of  Jerusalem  and  Damascus,  but  there  I  have  never 
seen  a  semblance  of  the  aspect  of  desolation  and  decay  which 
Sidon  presents,  a  little  village,  almost  igrored  by  tourists,  to 
which  modern  civilization  has  not  yet  penetrated."8    There 

1  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  XVII,  1,  p.  406. 

2  Menzies,  Turkey  Old  and  New,  p.  387.  A.  A.  Paton,  A  History  of  the 
Egyptian  Revolution,  II,  pp.  189,  190. 

8  Thomson,  The  Land  and  the  Book,  two  vol.  edition,  I,  p.  154. 

*  The  Lands  of  the  Moslem,  p.  332. 

6  Von  Oppenheim,  Vom  Mittelmeer  zum  Persischen  Golf,  pp.  162,  163. 

*  Bulletin  de  I'alliance  Israelite,  1902,  p.  92. 


THE  MODERN   TOWN  109 

must  be  some  exaggeration  in  this  statement,  for  since 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  city  has  shared 
to  some  extent  in  the  advances  and  advantages  of  modern 
civilization,  and  at  the  present  time  it  contains  nearly  all  the 
institutions  which  are  thought  essential  in  a  modern  town. 
Its  population  is  estimated  at  about  11,000.  It  is  the  seat  of 
a  Turkish  tribunal,  has  a  custom  house,  a  post  office,  and  a 
telegraph  office  for  domestic  service,  i.e.,  for  correspondence  in 
Arabic  and  Turkish.  It  is  the  residence  of  a  Kaimakdm,  of 
a  Maronite  and  two  Greek  bishops.1  It  possesses  Moslem  sec- 
ondary and  primary  schools  for  boys  and  girls;  the  American 
Mission — Presbyterian — maintains  a  boys  and  a  girls'  school, 
also  a  school  of  agriculture;  the  Franciscans  have  a  monastery, 
church,  and  boys'  school;  the  Sisters  of  Joseph  a  school  and  an 
orphanage;  the  Jesuits  have  a  mission  station,  with  a  church 
and  a  school.  The  Maronites,  the  United  Greeks,  and  Ortho- 
dox Greeks  also  maintain  schools  and  churches.2  The  Alliance 
Israelite  established  a  mixed  school  in  1902. 3 

1  Badeker  says  that  both  belong  to  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church.  This  is  an 
error;  one  belongs  to  the  United  Greek  Church;  so  Cuinet. 

2  Cuinet,  Syrie,  Liban,  et  Palestine,  p.  71 ;  Badeker-Benzinger,  Palestine  and 
Syria,  1898,  p.  314.  Verney  et  Dambmann,  Les  puissances  ttrangeres  dans 
le  Levant,  pp.  28,  29,  477. 

3  Bulletin  de  V alliance  Israelite,  1902,  p.  91ff . 


III.    COLONIES,  COMMERCE  AND 
INDUSTRIES 


Six  hundred  and  sixty  pages  does  Movers  devote  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  Phoenician  colonies;1  and  that  notwithstanding 
his  admission2  that  in  cases  without  number  we  know  very 
little,  while  "concerning  others,  and  among  them  the  most 
important,  nothing  whatever  may  be  said."  On  the  other 
hand,  twelve  pages  are  sufficient  for  Winckler  to  prove  that  the 
older  views  concerning  the  founding  of  Phoenician  colonies  are 
no  longer  tenable.3  He  holds,  and  without  doubt  correctly, 
that  the  so-called  Phoenician  colonies  on  the  islands  and  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  are  due,  not  to  the  commercial  ventures 
of  the  cities  in  Phoenicia  proper,  but  to  the  continuation  across 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  of  the  same  Semitic  migration  which 
resulted  in  the  settlement  of  the  Phoenicians  along  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  subject  of  this  chapter,  however,  is  not  Phoenician  colonies 
but  Sidonian  colonies.  In  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  this 
subject  it  may  be  well  to  repeat  what  has  been  stated  in  another 
connection,  that  Sidon  was  not  a  city  of  prominence  until  after 
the  opening  of  the  first  millennium  B.C.,  a  fact  which  tends  to 
cast  suspicion  upon  any  statement  which  implies  that  centuries 
earlier  Sidon  was  busy  planting  colonies  on  distant  shores.  The 
mythological  stories  which  connect  Europa  and  Cadmus  with 
Sidon  may  be  left  entirely  out  of  consideration,  for  they  reflect 
late  notions  which  in  no  sense  can  be  called  historical.4    The 

1  Die  Phonizier,  II,  2.  '  Ibid.,  p.  1. 

3  Altorientalische Forschungen,  I,  pp.  421-433;  cp.  Zeitschrift  fur  Socialwis- 
senschaft,  VI,  pp.  357ff.,  434ff. ;  see  also  v.  Landau,  Der  AlteOrient,  II,  4,  p.  8. 

4  The  origin  of  these  notions  may  be  explained,  in  part,  by  the  fact  that  the 
people  among  whom  they  originated  were  more  familiar  with  the  citizens  of 

110 


SIDONIAN  COLONIES  111 

earliest  historical  allusion  to  a  Sidonian  colony  is  generally  seen 
in  Judg.  18  :  7,  28 ;  but  there  Sidonian  is  certainly  equivalent  to 
Phoenician,  and  the  most  that  may  be  inferred  from  the  passage 
is  that  Laish  was  a  Phoenician  settlement;  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  city  Sidon  had  even  the  remotest  connection  with  it.  An- 
other proof  of  the  early  colonizing  activities  of  Sidon  is  found  in 
the  claims  expressed  on  Sidonian  coins  of  the  second  century 
B.C.1  that  Sidon  is  the  mother  of  Kambe,  =  Carthage,  Hippo, 
Citium,  Tyre.  In  the  case  of  Tyre  the  claim  has  been  shown  to 
be  unwarranted,2  and  the  same  may  be  said  in  the  case  of  the 
other  cities;  for  how  could  a  city  such  as  Sidon  was  during  the 
Tel-el- Amarna  period  plant,  at  approximately  the  same  time, 
or  even  earlier,  extensive  settlements  on  foreign  and  hostile 
shores?  If  any  colonizing  was  done  during  the  period  reflected 
in  the  Tel-el- Amarna  tablets  or  earlier,  it  cannot  have  proceeded 
from  the  Phoenician  cities  named  in  that  correspondence.  On 
this  ground  alone  the  assertion  is  warranted  that  the  claims  of 
Sidon  to  be  the  founder  of  the  cities  named  is  without  any  basis 
in  history;  it  reflects  rather  the  later  rivalry  between  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  which  found  expression  in  extravagant  claims  of  antiquity 
and  superiority. 

There  are  only  two  colonies  the  founding  of  which  is  credited 
by  disinterested  persons  to  Sidon.  Leptis,  in  North  Africa,  is 
said  to  have  been  settled  by  Sidonians  who  had  been  driven 
from  their  homes  by  internal  dissensions;3  and  the  island  Oliaros, 
near  Paros,  is  called  by  Heraclides  Ponticus  Zidwviwv  dnotxta.4 
Pliny  calls  the  former  a  Tyrian  settlement,5  while  modern  his- 

Sidon  than  with  those  of  other  Phoenician  cities,  in  part  by  the  wider  use  of  the 
term  Sidonian  =  Phoenician;  see  above,  p.  18.  It  should  be  noted  also  that 
other  traditions  connect  these  mythological  figures  with  Tyre;  see  above,  p.  20. 

1  Gesenius,  Monumenta,  p.  264ff. 

2  See  above,  p.  21ff.  In  the  case  of  Carthage  the  fact  must  not  be  over- 
looked that  ancient  tradition  in  general  makes  Tyre  the  mother;  see  Meltzer, 
Geschichte  der  Karthager,  I,  p.  124.     J.  A.O.  S.,  1890,  p.  LXXff. 

3  Sallust,  Jug.,  78. 

4  Stephanus  Byzantius,  Ethnicorum  quae  supersunt,  s.v.  'QMapog. 

5  Historia  naturalis,  V,  17. 


112  COLONIES,   COMMERCE  AND  INDUSTRIES 

torians  are  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  founded  by  Carthage.1 
In  the  case  of  the  latter  Sidefows  may  be  used  in  the  wider  sense,. 
or  we  may  perhaps  assume  that  a  Sidonian  settlement  of  the 
character  described  below  existed  there.  Even  these  refer- 
ences, therefore,  do  not  prove  that  Sidon  founded  colonies  in 
the  commonly  accepted  sense  of  that  term. 

To  explain  the  historical  development  of  the  so-called  Phoeni- 
cian colonies,  it  is  necessary  to  place  their  origin  in  a  period 
much  earlier  than  that  in  which  the  Phoenician  coast  cities  first 
came  into  prominence.  The  traditions  which  connect  them  with 
these  cities  arose  at  a  time  when,  as  is  true  in  other  cases,  the 
actual  course  of  events  was  no  longer  known.  However,  the 
process  of  reasoning  which  is  responsible  for  the  traditions  can 
still  be  traced.  Here  were  certain  Semitic  settlements  away 
from  the  mainland,  or  in  regions  distant  from  the  better-known 
Semitic  nations:  what  could  be  more  natural  than  to  look  upon 
them  as  colonies  of  the  latter?  Their  language,  customs,  and 
religion  resembled  the  language,  customs,  and  religion  of  the 
Phoenicians;  hence  they  must  be  colonies  of  the  Phoenicians. 
The  relative  prominence  of  the  Phoenician  cities  at  the  time  of 
the  origin  of  the  traditions  would  determine  which  of  the  cities 
was  to  be  regarded  as  the  ' '  mother. ' '  Traditions  arising  during 
the  supremacy  of  Sidon  would  connect  the  colonies  with  itr 
while  at  another  period  the  same  colonies  might  be  connected 
with  Tyre,  and  in  periods  of  intense  rivalry  each  city  would  try 
to  overcome  the  claims  of  the  other  by  adding  new  colonies  to  its 
own  list.  Tradition  credits  Tyre,  which  was  the  most  prominent 
Phoenician  city  during  the  greater  part  of  Phoenician  history, 
with  the  largest  number  of  colonies. 

The  beliefs  concerning  the  founding  of  these  colonies  would  be 
fostered  by  another  fact.  The  Phoenicians  were  from  the 
earliest  times  a  seafaring  nation,  the  mediators  between  the 
Orient  and  the  Occident.  Being  such,  it  would  be  to  their 
interest    to    establish   commercial   relations   with   the   people 

1  See  E.  Meyer,  in  Ency.  Bibl.,  art.  Phoenicia. 


COMMERCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  113 

living  upon  the  islands  and  shores  to  the  west.  It  was  quite 
natural  that  their  fellow-Semites,  who  had  settled  there  at  ap- 
proximately the  time  when  the  Phoenicians  established  them- 
selves on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  who 
for  some  generations  at  least  must  have  remembered  the  inti- 
mate racial  connection  existing  between  them,  would  grant  to 
them  certain  privileges  which  might  prove  of  mutual  advantage ; 
for  example,  they  might  permit  them  to  erect  warehouses,  or 
factories,  or  even  to  plant  small  settlements  of  merchants  who 
could  trade  with  the  more  remote  districts  in  the  interior.  We 
may  assume  even  that  similar  privileges  were  granted  by  non- 
Semitic  communities.  In  a  certain  sense  these  settlements 
might  be  called  colonies,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  com- 
mon to  speak  of  Phoenician  colonies,  and  yet  only  in  this  limited 
sense  are  we  warranted  to  speak  of  colonies  founded  by  the 
cities  of  Phoenicia.  These  statements  do  not  mean  to  deny 
that  there  may  have  been  occasions  when  individuals,  or  families, 
or  groups  of  families  found  it  desirable,  for  economic  or  political 
reasons,  to  leave  their  homes;  in  such  cases  they  would  quite 
naturally  turn  westward  to  find  new  homes  among  their  kins- 
men there.  Migrations  of  this  character  may  also  have  been 
responsible  for  the  presence  of  Sidonian  or  Tyrian  "colonies" 
in  the  midst  of  the  older  Semitic  settlements.  These  three  facts 
— the  close  x^cial  connection  between  the  Phoenicians  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  islands  and  shores  west  of  them,  the  estab- 
lishment by  the  Phoenicians  of  small  commercial  settlements  in 
the  midst  of  the  older  "colonies,"  and  migrations  on  a  small 
scale  from  the  Phoenician  cities — are  the  historical  basis  of  the 
traditions  concerning  the  colonial  activities  of  the  ancient 
Phoenicians. 

This  conclusion  finds  further  support  in  the  history  of  these 
"  colonies."  In  the  first  place,  though  traces  of  early  Semitic 
influence  may  be  seen  in  many  places,  it  was  not  able  to 
maintain  and  assert  itself  permanently  in  the  presence  of 
stronger  native  elements;  hence  it  soon  died  out.  There  are, 
indeed,  only  a  few  places — for  example,  Carthage,  Cyprus,  Spain 


114  COLONIES,   COMMERCE  AND   INDUSTRIES 

— in  which  the  invaders  succeeded  in  establishing  permanent 
Semitic  communities.1  Again,  the  presence  of  commercial  estab- 
lishments explains  most  readily  the  maintenance  of  constant 
communication  between  these  colonies  and  the  more  promi- 
nent commercial  centres  of  Phoenicia.  Moreover,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  the  influence  of  the  Phoenician  cities  in  the  affairs 
of  these  distant  settlements  was  insignificant;  it  was  chiefly 
commercial;  which  is  quite  natural,  if  the  situation  was  as 
described  above.  The  exact  share  of  the  city  of  Sidon  in  these 
"  colonizing"  enterprises  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  It 
undoubtedly  varied  according  to  the  fortunes  of  the  city  at 
home.  In*  times  of  prosperity  and  success  her  commercial 
activities  abroad  would  be  considerable;  in  periods  of  decline 
•and  misfortune  her  commerce  would  be  pushed  into  the  back- 
ground. Undoubtedly  in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  Tyre 
played  the  more  prominent  role. 

While  it  may  be  necessary  to  reject  as  exaggerated  many  of 
the  traditions  concerning  the  early  colonial  activities  of  the 
Phoenician  cities,  there  is  no  good  reason  for  questioning  the 
traditions  concerning  the  commercial  prominence  of  Sidon  and 
her  sister  cities.  The  Phoenicians  were  destined  by  nature  k) 
become  a  seafaring  nation.2  On  the  one  hand,  there  was  little 
opportunity  for  agriculture  or  sheep  raising  in  the  narrow  strip 
of  land  along  the  coast;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Phoenician  terri- 
tory possessed  excellent  harbor  facilities,  while  the  coast  farther 
south  had  but  one  harbor,  that  of  Joppa.  This  in  itself 
makes  it  more  than  probable  that  even  the  pre-Phcenician  in- 
habitants of  the  land  knew  and  practiced  navigation  and  ship- 
building, thus  preparing  the  way  for  their  Semitic  successors, 
who  became  the  commercial  mediators  between  the  East  and 
the  West. 

The  famous  twenty-seventh  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Ezekiel, 

1  Meyer,  Geschichte  des  Altertums,  II,  p.  141ff.  On  the  influence  of  political 
disorder  upon  the  founding  of  new  Phoenician  settlements  see  also  Jastrow, 
The  Founding  of  Carthage,  in  J.  A.  0.  S.,  1890,  p.  LXXff. 

1  Pomponius  Mela,  1, 12. 


PHOENICIAN   COMMERCE  115 

which  deals  with  Tyre,  reveals  the  wide  extent  of  Phoenician 
commerce  during  the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  Among 
the  nations  mentioned  there  as  carrying  on  an  active  trade  with 
the  Phoenician  city  are  Northern  Syria,  Syria  of  Damascus,  Judah, 
Israel,  Egypt,  Arabia,  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Upper  Mesopotamia, 
Armenia,  Asia  Minor,  Ionia,  Greece,  Cyprus,  Tarshish.1 
Ezekiel  furnishes  also  a  very  complete. idea  of  the  articles  of 
commerce.  From  Northern  Syria  came  cotton,  embroidery, 
and  precious  stones;  from  Syria  of  Damascus,  the  wine  of  Helbon2 
and  white  wool;  from  Israel  and  Judah,  pannagh,3  corn,  honey, 
balm,  and  oil;  from  Egypt,  fine  linen;  from  Arabia,  spices,  cassia, 
calamus,  lambs,  rams,  goats,  cloths  for  chariots,  gold,  wrought 
iron,  precious  stones,  ivory,  and  ebony.  Babylonia  and  Assyria 
furnished  choice  wares,  wrappings  of  blue  and  broidefed  work, 
and  chests  of  rich  apparel,  bound  with  cords  and  made  of  cedar. 
Upper  Mesopotamia,  represented  by  Haran,  shared  in  this 
traffic.  Armenia  sent  horses,  chargers,  and  mules;  Asia  Minor 
and  Ionia,  persons  of  men  and  vessels  of  brass;  Cyprus,  benches 
of  ivory  inlaid  with  boxwood.  From  Greece  came  "blue  and 
purple, ' '  probably  shell  fish,  which  were  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  purple.  Tarshish  supplied  silver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead.  An- 
other fact  made  plain  by  Ezekiel  is  that  the  land  trade  was  more 
extensive  than  the  trade  requiring  navigation.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  last  four  districts  named  by  him,  all  could  be  reached 
from  Tyre  by  land,  most  of  them  only  by  land.  At  times  Egypt 
and  the  south  coast  of  Asia  Minor  may  have  been  touched  by 
vessels,  but  even  with  these  countries  the  greater  part  of  the 
trade  was  carried  on  over  land  routes. 

When  these  words  of  Ezekiel  were  uttered  Tyre  was  the  lead- 
ing city  of  Phoenicia.  Sidon  had  not  yet  fully  recovered  from 
the  awful  blow  struck  by  Esarhaddon;  and  yet  there  can  be  no 

1  The  prophet  is  probably  thinking  of  Spain.  Various  other  identifications 
have  been  suggested.     See  Encycl.  Bibl.,  art.  Tarshish. 

2  A  delicious  drink ;  Strabo,  Geographica,  XV,  3,  22. 

3  A  word  of  uncertain  meaning;  the  text  may  be  corrupt;  Cornill  emends 
JJil,  meaning  wax. 


116  COLONIES,   COMMERCE  AND   INDUSTRIES 

doubt  that  it  had  a  large  share  in  the  commerce  described  here 
and  in  the  resulting  prosperity.  That  much  is  implied  in  the 
prophet's  statement  that  the  Sidonians  were  the  mariners  of 
Tyre,1  which  must  mean  that  they  assisted  the  Tyrians  in 
carrying  out  their  commercial  enterprises. 

The  Homeric  poems  describe  the  commercial  relations  be- 
tween Greece  and  Phoenicia  as  they  were  supposed  to  have  been 
in  the  days  of  the  Trojan  wars,  and  they  picture  the  Sidonian 
ships  as  crossing  the  Mediterranean  in  every  direction.  ' '  There 
lay  the  beautiful  embroidered  robes,  the  work  of  the  hands  of 
the  Sidonian  women,  brought  far  over  the  waters  wide,  even 
from  Sidon."2  And  again,  "Then  set  Peleides  forth  a  mazer  of 
silver  mould,  the  prize  for  swiftness  of  foot;  six  measures  the 
same  would  hold;  and  for  beauty  there  was  not  the  like  thereof 
in  any  land,  for  it  was  fashioned  by  skillful  Sidonian  workmen, 
and  Phoenician  shipmen  had  brought  it  oVer  the  misty  wave."3 
Once  more,  "There  came  some  famous  Phoenician  shipmen, 
knaves  who  brought  in  their  ship  multitudes  of  trinkets. ' '4 

On  account  of  the  wider  use  of  the  term  Sidonian  by  Homer,5 
it  is  difficult  to  determine  from  these  passages  the  exact  share 
which  Sidon  had  in  these  enterprises.  The  same  difficulty  is 
encountered  in  Herodotus'  statements  concerning  the  early 
period  of  Phoenician  history,  and  even  in  some  which  deal  with 
the  later  days.  When  he  says,  for  example,  that  on  settling  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  the  Phoenicians  began  to  occupy 
themselves  with  distant  sea  voyages,8  it  is  not  easy  to  decide 
which  city  of  Phoenicia  took  the  lead.  But  if  Sidon  was  the 
first  city  occupied  by  the  Phoenicians,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
the  first  vessels  departed  from  its  harbor,  though  its  lead  may 
not  have  continued  for  any  length  of  time.     However,  even  if 

1  Verse  8.  The  prominence  of  Sidon  in  the  affairs  of  Phoenicia  is  implied 
also  in  other  prophecies  of  this  period;  see  above,  p.  56ff. 

• II,  VI,  289-291.  8 II.,  XXIII,  740-744. 

*  Od.,  XV,  414,  415.  Some  passages  imply  that  the  Phoenicians  were  not 
always  scrupulous  in  their  dealings;  e.g.,  Od.,  Ill,  71;  IX,  250ff.;  XIV,  285ff. 

1  See  above,  p.  1 9.  9  Histona,  I,  1 . 


COMMERCE  IN  ANTIQUITY  117 

Sidon  did  not  stand  in  the  front  rank  of  commercial^activity  dur- 
ing the  early  centuries  of  Phoenician  history,  its  excellent  harbor 
facilities  made  it  inevitable  that  it  should  have  a  large  share  in 
the  commercial  undertakings  of  the  ancient  East. 

The  city  is  first  mentioned  as  an  independent  seafaring  power 
in  connection  with  the  Persian  period.  Diodorus  calls  attention 
to  the  wealth  of  its  citizens,  accumulated  through  commerce.1 
That  Sidon  was  a  well-known  starting  point  for  ships  and  a 
place  where  shipbuilding  was  carried  on  is  implied  in  Herodotus, 
III,  136.2  That  greater  prominence  is  given  to  the  feats  of  the 
Sidonian  vessels  in  war3  is  due  not  to  less  activity  in  commerce 
and  other  peaceful  enterprises,  but  rather  to  the  fact  that  the 
ancient  historians  took  a  keener  interest  in  war  than  in  the  arts 
of  peace.  The  Phoenicians  who  are  said  to  have  sailed  around 
Africa4  may  have  been  Sidonians.  To  the  closing  period  of  the 
Persian  supremacy  belongs  Joel  4  : 6,  which  accuses  Sidon  and 
Tyre  of  selling  Jews  to  the  Greeks.  From  a  later  period  comes 
Zech.  9  :  2,  which  implies  that  Sidon  was  still  prominent  commer- 
cially. The  exact  date  of  Is.  23  : 2  cannot  be  determined,  but 
it  is  certainly  not  earlier  than  the  late  Persian  period,5  and  perhaps 
much  later.  Whatever  the  exact  date,  its  testimony  is  valuable  as 
a  witness  to  the  commercial  prominence  of  Sidon :  ' '  Behold,  ye 
inhabitants  of  the  isle,  thou  whom  the  merchants  of  Sidon, 
who  pass  over  the  sea,  have  replenished."  A  new  impetus 
was  given  to  the  commerce  of  the  Phoenician  cities  by  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Persian  empire  to  India,  which  added  the  products  of 
India  to  their  commerce.  On  the  other  hand,  the  friendly  feel- 
ing which  existed  between  Sidon  and  the  Athenians  made 
Sidon  a  favorite  trading  cenjfcre. 

Little  is  known  of  the  commerce  of  Sidon  during  the  rule  of 
the  Ptolemies  and  the  Seleucidae,  but  during  the  early  Roman 
period  a  lively  trade  was  carried  on  with  Joppa,8  which  must 
have  extended  also  to  other  cities.     In  the  absence  of  all  testi- 

1  Bibliotheca  historica,  XVI,  41.  '  See  above,  p.  62. 

3  See  above,  p.  61  ff.  *  Herodotus,  IV,  42. 

5  See  above,  p.  66.  8  Josephus,  Ant.,  XIV,  10.  6. 


118  COLONIES,   COMMERCE  AND  INDUSTRIES 

mony1  we  may  assume  that  during  the  first  millennium  of  the 
Christian  era  Sidonian  commerce  continued  to  prosper,  though 
other  coast  cities  may  have  surpassed  it;  as  long  as  the  harbor 
remained  open  and  unobstructed  trading  vessels  would  find 
it  a  convenient  landing  place.  In  the  eleventh  century  it  was  a 
flourishing  commercial  centre.2  In  the  following  century 
Idrisi  speaks  of  its  thronged  market  places.3  From  the  four- 
teenth century  comes  the  testimony  of  Ibn-Batuta,  who  men- 
tions figs,  raisins,  and  olive  oil  as  articles  of  export.4  That  the 
city  possessed  much  wealth  during  the  period  of  the  Crusades  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  the  inhabitants  were  quite  ready  to 
purchase  their  freedom5  or  assistance 8  for  large  sums  of  money; 
and  this  wealth  presupposes  commerce,  which  was  the  only 
means  by  which  the  coast  cities  could  acquire  wealth.  The 
vicissitudes  of  the  period  of  the  Crusades  affected  seriously  the 
commercial  standing  of  the  city,  and  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Christians  it  regained  its  influence  by  very  slow  stages.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  Fakhr-addin  sought  to  restore  its  former 
splendor,  and  to  make  it  the  mediator  par  excellence  between  the 
Orient  and  the  Occident.  The  resources  of  Sidon  itself  were 
increased  by  the  planting  of  numerous  mulberry  groves,  which 
resulted  in  the  city  becoming  in  a  very  little  while  the  centre  of 
the  silk  industry  in  the  East,  from  which  great  quantities  were 
exported  to  Marseilles.  Unfortunately  the  commercial  prospects 
of  Sidon  were  permanently  impaired  by  the  partial  filling  up  of 
its  harbor.7  Notwithstanding  this  act  of  folly  the  commerce,  which 
was  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  Frenchmen,  continued  to 
prosper  for  many  years.  Not  even  the  fall  of  Fakhr-addin  in 
1634  had  a  serious  effect  upon  it,  for  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
century  d'Arvieux  wrote8  that  in  his  day  the  French  trade  had 

1  The  pilgrims  were  not  interested  in  commerce,  hence  they  are  silent  con- 
cerning it.  2  See  quotation  from  Nasir-i-Khusrau,  on  p.  81. 
3  See  above,  p.  103.  *  Tuhfat  an-nuzzar,  I,  132. 
5  See  above,  p.  83.  •  See  above,  p.  84. 

7  This  was  intended  to  prevent  the  approach  of  the  hostile  Turkish  fleet. 

8  M&moires,  I,  p  311. 


DURING  THE  CHRISTIAN   ERA  119 

grown  to  such  dimensions  that  it  brought  annually  into  the 
coffers  of  the  government  200,000  crowns,  and  that  it  had  become 
so  essential  to  the  inhabitants  that,  if  the  French  should  remove 
it  to  another  place,  the  city  would  be  immediately  abandoned 
and  deserted.  From  Sidon,  the  residence  of  the  French  consul, 
as  the  centre  branches  were  established  in  the  other  coast  cities, 
and  from  it  a  caravan  road  led  directly  to  Damascus  and  the 
interior.  The  French  consuls  and  merchants  were  diplomatic 
enough  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  emirs  and  pashas  who 
succeeded  Fakhr-addin,  and  thus  succeeded  in  extending  their 
commerce  more  and  more.  The  chief  articles  of  export  were 
raw  and  spun  cotton,  silk,  rice,  nutgalls,  ashes  from  the  desert, 
bird  lime,  senna,  and  several  other  drugs.  At  first  these  goods 
were  paid  for  in  money,  but  in  the  course  of  time  the  French 
began  to  import  various  articles  in  exchange,  among  them  cloths, 
spices,  dye  stuffs,  and  jewelry.1  Though  in  time  more  and 
more  of  the  trade  was  transferred  to  Beyrut,  Sidon  continued 
to  occupy  a  prominent  position  commercially  until  toward  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  1737,  when  Pococke  visited 
the  place,  all  the  merchants  resided  in  the  great  Khan  erected 
by  Fakhr-addin;  the  principal  articles  of  export  were  raw  silk, 
cotton,  and  grain.2  Hasselquist  relates3  that  in  his  day,  1751, 
more  than  twenty  ships  were  sent  annually  to  France,  laden 
chiefly  with  spun  cotton  and  raw  silk,  but  carrying  also  the 
silken  and  half  silken  stuffs  from  Damascus,  and  nutgalls,  oil, 
and  ashes.  The  imports  were  cloth,  spices,  Spanish  iron,  and 
dye  stuffs.  In  1766  Niebuhr  found  fourteen  French  merchants, 
all  of  whom  lived  in  the  Khan,4  and  Mariti5  speaks  in  the  follow- 
ing year  of  seven  or  eight  great  French  commercial  houses. 
In  1784  Volney  found  the  commerce  still  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  the  French,  who  had  a  consul  and  six  commercial 
houses  in  the  city;  raw  and  spun  cotton  and  silk  were  the  chief 

1  D'Arvieux,  Mtmoires,  I,  334ff. ;  463ff. 

3  Description  of  the  East,  II,  1,  p.  87. 

8  Voyages  and  Travels,  p.  166.  *  Reisebeschreibung,  III,  p.  79. 

5 1,  p.  122,  mentioned  by  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  XVII,  1,  p.  404. 


120  COLONIES,   COMMERCE  AND  INDUSTRIES 

commodities.1  Sidonian  commerce  received  its  deathblow 
when  in  1791  the  French  merchants  were  driven  from  the  city 
and  the  neighboring  districts.2  Since  then  the  little  trade  has 
been  carried  on  chiefly  by  the  natives.  The  European  commerce 
has  turned  almost  entirely  to  Beyrut;  only  since  1894  have 
English  steamers  made  the  city  again  a  regular  stopping 
place.3  In  1850  Neale  wrote  concerning  Sidon :  "It  can 
in  no  respect  be  called  a  commercial  town,  its  import  trade 
being  barely  sufficient  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  inhabi- 
tants and  its  exports  wholly  insignificant."4  And  a  few 
years  later  Thomson  also  calls  attention  to  the  commercial 
decline;  the  only  articles  of  export  he  names  are  tobacco,  oil, 
fruit,  and  silk.5  At  the  present  time  the  chief  articles  of  com- 
merce are  silk,  cotton,  figs,  oranges,  lemons,  and  grain.6  But 
these  exchange  hands  in  such  small  quantities  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  speak  of  Sidon  as  a  trading  centre.  ' '  The  ancient 
Phoenician  cities  of  Tyre  and  Sidon, ' '  says  Schulz,  ' '  are  to-day 
dead  cities  ....  Sidon  has  lost  its  commercial  standing,  its 
harbor  is  filled  with  sand,  and  only  ruins  remind  one  of  the 
former  splendor  of  the  city. '  '7  This  statement  of  Schulz  is  per- 
haps too  sweeping,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  statistics  supplied 
by  Verney  and  Dambmann,8  though  even  these  make  it  clear 
that  the  city  does  not  enjoy  at  present  its  former  prominence. 

1  Voyage  en  Syrie  et  en  Egypte,  II,  p.  192. 

'  See  above,  p.  107. 

'Verney  et  Dambmann,  Les  puissances  itrangeres  dans  le  Levant,  p.  516. 

4  Eight  Years  in  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Asia  Minor,  1842-1850, 1,  p.  205. 

6  The  Land  and  the  Book,  I,  p.  154. 

9  Ritter,  Geogr. -Statist.  Lexicon,  Vol.  II,  art.  Saida.  Badeker,  Palestine 
and  Syria,  1906,  p.  271. 

'  Syriens  Rolle  im  Welthandel,  1900,  p.  72.  Cp.  also  Bulletin  de  V alliance 
Israelite,  1902,  p.  91. 

8  Verney  and  Dambmann,  Les  puissances  Hrangeres  dans  le  Levant,  pp.  365, 
366.  The  commerce  will  undoubtedly  increase  when  the  railroads  now  under 
construction  or  planned  are  completed  (ibid.,  p.  396),  for  these  will  facilitate 
intercourse  with  Beyrut,  Damascus  and  other  cities.  That  Sidon  is  still  con- 
sidered of  commercial  importance  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  many  nations 
have  consuls  or  consular  agents  in  the  city;  ibid.,  passim. 


IN  MODERN   TIMES 


121 


I.  Vessels  entering  the  harbor  of  Sidon  during  the  years  1892 
to  1897. 


Sailing  Vessels. 

Steamers. 

Year. 

Numbers. 

Tonnage. 

Numbers. 

Tonnage. 

1892 

679 

85. 

1893 

856 

9,633 

35 

34,354 

1894 

937 

12,209 

211 

38,546 

1895 

765 

10,476 

251 

34,287 

1896 

920 

10,002 

231 

29,759 

1897 

781 

7,831 

218 

38,253 

II.  Exports  and  imports  during  1891-1897. 


Year. 

Exports. 

Imports. 

1891 

1,555,000  francs. 

1892 

1,600,000 

1893 

1,280,000       " 

1894 

1895 

1,300,000       " 

700,000  francs. 

1896 

1,250,000 

795,000      *' 

1897 

1,206,000       «' 

828,000      " 

A  few  words  may  be  added  concerning  the  industries  of  Sidon . 
Popular  etymology  gave  to  the  name  of  the  city  the  meaning 
"fish-town,"  because  its  inhabitants  were  known  to  be  fisher- 
men, and  fishing  has  continued  to  be  an  important  occupation 
of  Sidonians  to  the  present  day.1  But  among  the  ancients 
Phoenicia  was  noted  especially  for  three  industries:  1.  The 
manufacture  of  textile  fabrics.  The  materials  used  were  wool, 
linen,  cotton,  and  in  later  times  silk.  The  skill  of  the  Phoenicians 
along  these  lines  is  highly  praised  by  Homer.2  2.  The  manu- 
facture of  dyes,  especially  purple.3    In  this  industry  Tyre  excelled 


Neale,  Eight  Years  in  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Asia  Minor,  I,  p.  205. 
JZ.,VI,289.     Oci.,  XV,  417.  3  Rawlinson,  History  of  Phoenicia,  p.  245ff. 


122  COLONIES,   COMMERCE   AND   INDUSTRIES 

all  other  cities  of  Phoenicia,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Sidon  also  had  numerous  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of 
dyes.  The  shell-fish  needed  for  this  purpose  were  very  numer- 
ous along  the  coast  near  the  city,  and  in  a  heap  of  rubbish  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  city,  on  which  stand  the  ruins  of  a 
medieval  castle,  layers  of  purple  shells  are  still  visible.  3.  The 
manufacture  of  glass.  Pliny  credits  the  neighborhood  of  Sidon 
with  being  the  locality  where  glass  was  invented.1  In  this  he 
must  be  mistaken,  for  glass  was  manufactured  in  Egypt  long 
before  there  is  the  slightest  trace  of  it  in  Phoenicia;  nevertheless 
there  is  no  reason  for  questioning  the  accuracy  of  ancient  tradi- 
tion in  so  far  as  it  implies  that  the  Phoenicians  manufactured 
glass  on  a  large  scale,  or  that  Sidon  was  an  important  seat  of 
the  industry.2  At  Sarepta,  which  is  not  far  from  Sidon,  have 
been  discovered  extensive  banks  of  debris,  consisting  of  small 
pieces  of  glass  of  various  colors,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that 
they  represent  the  waste  of  an  ancient  glass  factor}?-.8  The 
Phoenicians  are  said  to  have  attained  high  perfection  also  in  the 
use  of  metals  for  artistic  purposes;4  and  they  had  the  reputation 
of  being  experts  in  the  architectural  arts.5  Many  specimens  of 
the  aesthetic  arts  have  been  uncovered  in  various  parts  of 
Phoenicia  and  in  the  colonies.8  All  this  information  is  concern- 
ing the  Phoenicians  in  general,  and  though  at  times  the  Sidonians 
are  mentioned  by  name,  one  must  be  careful  in  drawing  con- 
clusions, because  in  every  case  of  this  kind  Sidonian  seems  to 
be  equivalent  to  Phoenician.  Almost  the  only  artistic  remains 
of  antiquity  which  have  been  found  in  Sidon  are  those  found  in 
the  tombs  and  in  the  ruins  of  the  Esmun  temple,  and  they  are  not 
numerous  enough  to  enable  us  to  draw  a  clear  picture  of  the  art 
of  Sidon. 

1  Hist,  nat.,  XXXVI,  65. 

3  Ibid.,  V,  17.     See  further  Appendix  III ;  below,  p.  166f. 

8  Lortet,  La  Syrie  d'aujourd'hui,  p.  113. 

« II.,  XXIII,  740ff . 

6 1  K.  5  :  6;  chapter  7;  2  Chr.  2  :  12. 

•  Perrot  et  Chipiez,  Hist,  de  Vart,  Vol.  Ill;  cp.  Rawlinson,  History,  p.  180ff. 


INDUSTRIES   OF  SIDON  123 

The  industrial  history  of  Sidon  cannot  be  traced  during  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  In  the  eleventh  century 
A.D.  Nasir-i-Khusrau  mentions  the  cultivation  of  sugar  cane, 
the  beauty  and  excellence  of  the  gardens  and  orchards,  and  the 
wealth  of  the  fruit  trees.1  Idrisi 2  in  the  twelfth  and  Ibn-Batuta 
in  the  fourteenth  century  also  call  attention  to  the  cultivation 
of  fruit  trees.3  In  the  thirteenth  century  Jacques  de  Vitry  writes : 
' '  It  has  fruit  trees  and  vineyards,  woods  and  fields,  both  pasture 
and  plow  land,  whereby  its  citizens  are  greatly  benefited."4 
In  the  fifteenth  century  John  Poloner  speaks  of  the  cultivation  of 
sugar  cane  and  vineyards,  "exceedingly  good  ones."5  A  new 
industry,  which  has  continued  to  the  present  day,  was  intro- 
duced by  Fakhr-addin  when  he  covered  the  plains  around  Sidon 
with  mulberry  groves.  Though  these  groves  were  neglected  by 
his  successors,  they  continued  to  furnish  employment  for 
many  people.  Volney  calls  the  manufacture  of  cotton  the 
principal  industry  in  his  day.6  Stanley  was  impressed  with  the 
numerous  silk  mills.7  The  decline  of  commerce  was  accom- 
panied by  a  decline  of  the  industries  of  the  town;  and  to-day 
fishing,  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  silk  on  a  small  scale, 
and  the  raising  of  a  little  fruit  and  grain  are  the  mainstay  of  the 
population.8 

1  See  above,  p.  81. 

2  See  above,  p.  103. 

3  See  above,  p.  2. 

*  P.  P.  T.,  XI,  p.  6;  cp.  also  Burchard  of  Mount  Zion;  P.  P.  T.,  XII,  p.  14. 

8  P.  P.  T.,  VI,  p.  29. 

8  Voyage  en  Syrie  et  en  Egypte,  II,  p.  192. 

7  Sinai  and  Palestine,  new  edition,  1883,  p.  341. 

8  "  The  great  mass  of  the  population,"  says  Angel,  '*  lives  almost  exclusively 
on  the  income  from  the  numerous  gardens  which  surround  the  city,  and  whose 
products  are  exported,  in  part  to  Egypt,  in  part  to  England,  where  the 
oranges  of  Sidon,  it  seems,  are  particularly  in  demand."  Bulletin  de  I' alliance 
Israelite,  1902,  p.  91.  Verney  and  Dambmann,  Les  puissances  etrangeres 
dans  le  Levant,  p.  465ff.,  mention  the  making  of  soap,  and  of  oil,  dyeing, 
weaving  and  tile-making  as  industries  of  Sidon. 


IV.    THE  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY  OF  SIDON 


The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  bring  together  and  systema- 
tize the  material  which  has  bearing  upon  the  religious  life  and 
beliefs  of  the  Sidonians,  and  to  trace,  with  the  aid  of  the  informa- 
tion thus  secured,  the  religious  history  of  Sidon  from  ancient  to 
modern  times. 

The  available  material  consists,  in  the  first  place,  of  all  the 
inscriptions  found  in  Sidon  or  other  places  which  give  evidences 
of  having  been  written  by  Sidonians  or  under  Sidonian  influ- 
ences. The  deities  named  most  frequently  in  the  inscriptions 
of  the  Sidonian  kings  are  [D&K  and  tT\PKff$.  Esmunazar  and 
his  mother  erected  a  temple  for  Esmun;1  so  did  Bod-astart;2 
the  former  built  also  a  sanctuary  for  AStart,3  and  Bod-a§tart 
erected  a  J"W  (=  column?)  in  honor  of  the  same  deity.4  The 
divine  name  JOt^N  is  an  element  of  the  name  of  the  king 
"ltfNOBW  ffiPi&P  of  the  royal  name  mW#  "D,  and  of  the 
name  of  Esmunazar's  mother  niDtJ*^  DN.  The  latter  is  called 
the  priestess  of  A3tart,5  while  Tabnit  and  Esmunazar  I  are 
called  priests  of  AStart.9  In  addition  to  these  two  deities  the 
inscription   of   ESmunazar   names   as    deities    pV  b$y    and 

The  divine  name  *l¥  occurs  in  one  inscription  from  Sidon.9 
Another  inscription10  names  the  deity  \d~?W,  and  the  names 
in  the  same  inscription  contain  the  divine  elements  "ODD  and 
•?JD.  In  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  5,  is  mentioned  the  deity  \Xfr  ^JD. 
The  name  of  Bod-astart's  son  contains   the   element  pIV.11 

I  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3, 1. 17.  a  See  inscription,  below,  on  p.  144. 
8  C.  I.  a,  I,  No.  3,  I.  16.  *  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  4, 1  4. 
8  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3,  I.  15.  •  Inscription  of  Tabnit,  11.  1,  2. 
7  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3,  I.  18.  •  Ibid.,  I.  18.  •  See  below}  p.  165. 
10  V.  Landau,  Beitrage  zur  Altertumskunde  des  Orient,  II,  p.  13,  No.  7. 

II  See  below,  p.  146. 

124 


GODS  WORSHIPED  IN   SIDON  125 

C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  114,  implies  the  worship  of  'A-6Uw.  The  divine 
name  D^"T  occurs  in  the  names  of  the  Sidonians  mentioned  in 
C  I.  S.,  I,  No.  115.  The  Greek  text  of  the  same  inscription 
reproduces  mnSJM?  13^  by  'Afpodiaiuu,  thus  establishing  the 
identification  of  Astart  =  Aphrodite.  In  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  116, 
appear  the  elements  rOH  and  JPOtP;  fiJil  being  identified  with 
"Aprs/us,  tffDtff  with  "Hhos.  The  name  of  the  person  who  erected 
the  monument  mentioned  in  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  119,  contains  the 
element  ^D;1  the  same  inscription  names  the  deity  ^JflJ. 
Aidvuffos  is  found  as  an  element  in  the  name  of  a  Sidonian  in 
C.  I.  A.,  II,  No.  448,  I.  16;  IloctidSiv  in  C.  I.  A.,  II,  No.  966,  I.  21; 
*?N  in  the  Greek  name  0e6dwpo?.2  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  308,  gives  the 
name  of  a  Sidonian  as  DTD,y=DN"lDy= servant  of  Isis;3 
in  a  Greek  inscription  from  Sidon4  occurs  the  element  Baar,  which 
is  the  name  of  an  Egyptian  deity.  A  figure  of  the  Egyptian 
god  Bes  has  also  been  found.5 

The   inscriptions,  then,  whose  testimony  is  admissible  here 
furnish  the  following  divine  names  or  titles : 


ply 

pic  tyn 

DN 

oy-T 

run 

wt2V  iv 

\4n6XXat 

'AippodlTTj 

"A  pre  fit? 

"mm? 

Atovuaos 

Uoaetdmv 

Bolgt 

Bes. 

Several  of  these  do  not  denote  any  particular  deity;  they  are 
titles  which  may  be  applied  to  different  deities.  To  this  class 
belongs  p¥  /jD,  which  denotes  the  chief  deity  of  Sidon,  in  this 

1  Not  hyi. 

2  C.  I.  A.,  II,  No.  968,  I.  53. 

'  The  same  name  is  found  in  an  inscription  mentioned  below,  on  p.  165. 

*  Journal  Asiatique,  1877,  II,  p.  162ff. 

8  See  below,  p.  166.  The  Carthaginian  inscriptions,  C.  I.  S.,  I,  269-287, 
289-293,  which  contain  the  names  of  several  persons  calling  themselves 
Sidonians,  cannot  be  considered  in  this  connection,  for  they  reveal  unmis- 
takably Carthaginian  influence. 


126  THE   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY   OF  SIDON 

case  perhaps  Esmun;1  ^2  may  be  applied  to  any  deity  which 
is  considered  the  lord  or  possessor  of  a  city  or  district;2  it  is 
used  in  that  sense  in  p¥  ^3  and  pD1?  /)&',  (Ms^TH  means 
god,  and  may  be  used  of  any  deity.  All  the  others  are  names 
of  deities  known  also  from  other  sources.3  Of  these  seven 
belong  originally  to  the  Greek  pantheon,4  four  are  Babylonian 
or  Assyrian  deities,5  and  three  are  Egyptian.6  With  the 
foreign  deities  eliminated  there  remain  as  distinctly  Phoenician 
p&R,  mn m\  p"TC,  Dy-T,  n^n.  Of  these  peW,  a  male  deity, 
and  mncy,  a  female  deity,  were  the  two  chief  deities  of  Sidon. 
"l¥  was  taken  over  from  the  pre-Phcenician  inhabitants  of  the 
land. 

The  worship  of  Esmun  was  not  confined  to  Sidon;  traces  of  it 
are  found  wherever  the  Phoenician  civilization  went.7  He  first 
appears  as  a  Phoenician  deity  in  an  inscription  of  Esarhaddon, 
in  which  his  name  has  the  form  Ia-su-mu-nu.9  The  material 
at  our  command  does  not  enable  us  to  determine  the  conception 
of  his  nature  and  character  which  was  held  by  his  Phoenician 
worshipers.  Baudissin  thinks  that  originally  he  was  a  nature 
deity,9  and  Barton  considers  him  the  counterpart  of  the  Baby- 
lonian Duzu  or  Tammuz.10  If  this  identification  is  correct,  as 
seems  very  probable,  Esmum  was  originally  the  god  of  the 
spring  vegetation."    As  such  he  may  have  been  a  favorite  deity 

I  Baudissin,  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  p.  497,  thinks  that  another  deity  is  meant, 
one  superior  to  Esmun,  but  that  is  not  probable.  La  Grange  identifies  him 
with  "Of;  fitudes  sur  les  religions  Simitiques,  Paris,  1903,  p.  408. 

a  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  new  edition,  p.  94ff. 

3  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these  are  the  only  deities  worshiped  by  the 
Sidonians,  but  since  these  are  the  only  deities  certified  by  the  inscriptions,  we 
may  confine  ourselves  to  them. 

*  'Air6Mu}  "Apre/uig,  'AQpod'iTr/,  Ai6vvoo(;,"IVuo(;,  Hooeidwv,  "ODD. 

»  hi,  SrU  pVVi  BW-  '  DK,  Batxr,  Bes. 

7  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  pp.  466-472. 

8  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  II,  pp.  12,  13, 1.  14. 

9  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  p.  502.  10  J.  A.  O.  S.,  XXI,  pp.  188-190. 

II  Jastrow,  Relig.  of  Babyl.  and  Assyria,  p.  588;  Sayce,  Religions  of  Anc. 
Egypt  and  Babylonia,  p.  350,  n.;  cp.  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  p.  503;  Barton,  A 
Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins,  p.  85 ;  see  also  references  given  in  note  3  on  the 
same  page. 


E&MUN  AND  A&TART  127 

of  that  portion  of  the  Semitic  race  which  settled  in  Phoenicia. 
When  these  immigrants  advanced  in  influence  and  power  his 
humble  origin  was  forgotten,  and  in  time  he  became  one  of  the 
chief  deities  of  the  Phoenician  pantheon.  Esmun  had  at  least 
one  temple  in  Sidon,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly,1 
but  nothing  has  been  discovered  in  the  ruins  of  that  temple  to 
determine  the  nature  of  the  worship  practiced  there.  The  form 
was  probably  similar  to  that  found  among  other  Semitic  nations 
which  had  attained  to  a  similar  degree  of  civilization. 

While  Esmun  was  the  principal  male  deity  of  Sidon,  the 
female  Astart  seems  to  have  been  considered  his  superior.2  Her 
worship  also  was  found  wherever  Phoenician  influence  pene- 
trated.3 Like  Esmun,  she  is  not  of  Phoenician  origin;  indeed, 
in  some  form  she  is  worshiped  by  all  Semitic  nations.4  Her 
prototype  is  the  Babylonian  Istar,  or,  perhaps  better,  a  deity 
worshiped  by  the  Semites  before  the  race  was  broken  up  into 
different  tribes  and  nations.  Astart  appears  among  the  different 
Semitic  nations  under  the  most  divers  aspects,  but  everywhere 
there  is  connected  with  her  the  idea  of  generation  and  pro- 
ductivity. Barton  calls  her  "the  Semitic  mother  goddess."5 
As  in  the  case  of  Esmun,  so  in  her  case  it  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine the  Phoenician  conception  of  her  nature  and  character 
from  the  inscriptions  or  from  the  contemporaneous  records 
preserved  in  the  Old  Testament;  but,  she  being  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal deities,  it  is  quite  likely  that  her  influence  was  thought  to 
extend  over  all  spheres  of  human  life  and  activity.  The  inscrip- 
tion of  Tabnit8  shows  that  she  was  thought  to  be  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  her  worshipers  even   after  death,  and  that  the 

1  Cp.  above,  p.  7f. 

2  An  indication  of  this  is  the  fact  that  the  Sidonian  kings  call  themselves 
priests  of  Astart — Tabn.,  II.  1,  2;  cp.  Esmun.,  I.  15.  Bod-a§tart  also  showed 
first  honors  to  Astart — C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  4, 1.  5. 

3  Barton,  The  Semitic  Rtar  Cult,  in  Hebraica,  X,  p.  202;  see  also  Zimmern, 
in  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,  dritte  Auflage,  p.  420ff.,  La  Grange, 
Etudes,  p.  119ff.,  Jastrow,  Die  Religion  Babyloniens  und  Assyriens ,  I,  p.  214ff. 

4  Hebraica,  X,  pp.  12,  14,  68. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  71 ;  cp.  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  p.  503.  8 I.  6. 


128  THE   RELIGIOUS  HISTORY  OF   SIDON 

desecration  of  their  tombs  was  an  abomination  to  her.  Esmuna- 
zar  and  his  mother  erected  for  her  a  temple,  which  may  have  been 
still  in  use  when  Lucian  visited  the  city.1  He  ventures  the 
opinion  that  Astart  was  a  moon-goddess,  but  there  is  no  evidence 
that  she  was  looked  upon  as  such  at  an  earlier  time.2  Nor  is  there 
any  evidence  in  the  Phoenician  inscriptions  that  her  worship 
was  accompanied  by  licentious  practices.3  Though  information 
concerning  the  character  of  her  worship  is  lacking,  we  may 
assume  that  the  kings  who  called  themselves  her  priests  spared 
no  effort  or  expense  to  make  it  impressive  and  beautiful.  In 
the  Babylonian  religion  Tammuz  appears  as  the  spouse  of  Bstar;* 
a  similar  close  connection  exists  in  Sidon  between  A§tart  and 
Esmun. 

The  relation  of  tyl  DG?  mn  W  to  PT\my  is  obscure.  The 
uncertainty  extends  even  to  the  reading  and  translation  of  the 
name.  Some  translate  "Astart,  the  name  (=  expression)  of 
Baal";  others,  with  less  probability,  "Astart  of  the  heavens  of 
Baal,"  i.e.,  AStart,  the  consort  of  DDJ^  ^JD.  Whatever  the 
exact  force  of  the  combination,  it  undoubtedly  denotes  a  dis- 
tinct deity,  who  was  thought  to  be  in  some  sense  a  reflection 
of  a  Baal.6  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  expression 
points  to  a  time  when  A§tart  was  worshiped  as  an  androgynous 
deity.6 

pl¥  appears  as  the  name  of  a  deity  in  the  name  of  the  son 
of  king  Bod-A3tart.     A  statement  of  Yakut  also  points  to  the 

1  De  Syria  dea,  §  4.  2  Cp.  La  Grange,  Etudes,  p.  128. 

3  But  see  below  under  '  AfypodiTT) . 

4  Sayce,  Religions  of  Ancient  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  p.  350. 

8  Cp.  Ex.  23  :  21 ;  Baethgen,  Beitr&ge  zur  semitischen  Religionsgeschichte,  pp. 
267,  268. 

8  The  discussion  of  the  androgynous  character  of  As"tart  or  IStar  is  outside 
the  scope  of  this  chapter.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  say  that  evidence  is 
accumulating  continually  to  show  that  there  was  a  time  when  masculine  and 
feminine  qualities  were  attached  to  her.  Barton,  J.  A.O.  S.,  XXI,  p.  185ff. ; 
A  Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins,  especially  chapters  III-VI;  Sellin,  Tell  Ta'annak, 
p.  105ff . ;  W.  R.  Smith,  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  new  ed.,  p.  58.  Com- 
pare also  the  Talmudic  tradition  concerning  j'SUHfl  11,  Monatsschrift  fur 
Geschichte  und  Wissenschaft  des  Judentums,  XLIX,  p.  682. 


PHOENICIAN   DEITIES  129 

presence  of  a  deity  bearing  that  name  in  the  pantheon  of  Sidon. 
He  says,  "Saida  is  called  after  Saidun,  son  of  Sadaka,  son  of 
Canaan,  son  of  Noah."1  The  same  deity  is  represented  by  the 
mythological  figure  Zbdux,  mentioned  by  Philo  Byblius.2  A 
deity  bearing  the  same  name  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  names 
plVjlN,3  DIVO^D,4  and  many  more.  The  descendants 
of  ludux  are  said  by  Philo  to  have  been  known  as  the  inventors 
of  medicine  and  music.  Outside  of  the  name  nothing  is  known 
of  this  deity.5  The  same  is  true  of  0^1,  though  the  name  is 
found  several  times  and  occurs  also  transliterated  in  Greek 
inscriptions. 

A3j"I  occurs  in  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  116,  in  the  name  of  a  Sidonian 
living  in  Athens.  Nevertheless  it  is  doubtful  that  the  worship 
of  Tanith  was  practiced  to  any  extent  in  Sidon.  So  far  as  we 
know,  it  was  confined  to  Carthage  and  its  colonies.  niHI^y 
was  in  his  religion  probably  more  of  a  Carthaginian  than  a 
Sidonian.8 

From  the  Phoenician  deities,  of  whom,  excepting  Astart  and 
Esmun,  little  is  known,  we  may  pass  to  the  deities  imported  from 
Babylonia  or  Assyria.  Salman  was  one  of  the  minor  deities  in 
the  Assyrian  pantheon.7  Of  Samas,  the  sun-god,  Jastrow  says : 
"There  is  no  deity  whose  worship  enjoys  an  equally  continued 
popularity  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  Beginning  at  the  earliest 
period  of  Babylonian  history  and  reaching  to  the  latest,  his 
worship  suffers  no  interruption."8  Bel,  the  Semitic  successor  of 
the  pre-Semitic  En-lil,  god  of  Nippur,  was  for  many  centuries 
the  chief  deity  in  Babylonia,  until  he  yielded  his  supremacy  to 
Marduk,  the  god  of  Babylon.9 

1  Mu'jam  al-bulddn,  III,  p.  439 ;  cp.  Clermont-Ganneau,  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  V, 
p.  207ff.  2  Phcenicum  historia,  II,  11.  s  Josh.  10  :  1. 

4  Gen.  14  :  18;  Ps.  110  : 4.  It  is  found  also  in  South  Arabia;  La  Grange, 
Etudes,  p.  377.  5  Baethgen,  Beitrage,  p.  128.  6  Ibid.,  p.  55. 

7  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  p.  188. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  68. 

9  Sayce,  Religions,  pp.  301,  302.  For  the  Assyrian  deities  cp.  also  K.A.T?, 
pp.  437f.,  367ff .,  354ff.,  412ff .,  and  the  German  edition  of  Prof.  Jastrow's  work, 
vol.  I,  pp.  220ff.,  229,  52ff. 


130  THE   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY   OF   SID  ON 

Nergal  was  originally  the  god  of  the  cityCuthah;  he  is  better 
known,  however,  as  the  god  of  the  nether  regions,  and  of  some 
of  the  evils  that  bring  death,  for  example,  pestilence  and  war.1 
Assyrian  deities  were  introduced  into  Sidon  by  the  Assyrians  and 
Babylonians  whom  Esarhaddon  transplanted  thither  after  the 
destruction  of  the  island  Sidon  and  the  founding  of  a  new 
city.2  The  new  colonists  brought  with  them  their  own  gods,8 
and  as  they  intermarried  with  the  native  population  some  of 
their  deities  were  adopted  into  the  Sidonian  pantheon. 

Phoenicia  was  under  the  sway  of  Egyptian  rulers  at  three 
different  periods  :  before  the  Tel-el-Amarna  period,4  under 
Necho5  and  under  the  Ptolemies.8  Commercial  intercourse 
between  the  two  countries  existed  also  at  other  times.  As  a 
result  of  this  close  connection,  and  perhaps  also  through  the 
migration  of  Egyptian  families  to  Phoenicia,  Egyptian  deities 
were  introduced  into  Sidon  and  other  Phoenician  settlements. 
The  Sidonian  inscriptions  bear  witness  to  the  adoration  of  Isis  and 
Bast,  and  the  statue  of  the  Egyptian  god  Bes  has  been  found 
in  the  city.  Other  Egyptian  deities  are  mentioned  in  C.  I.  S.,  I, 
Nos.  9,  50, 111b. 

All  these  deities,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Isis,  Bast,  and 
Bes  were  worshiped  in  Sidon  before  it  came  under  the  influence 
of  Greece;  and  we  may  assume,  in  the  absence  of  all  information 
concerning  the  religious  practices  of  the  early  periods,  that  the 
deities  who  are  essentially  Phoenician  were  worshiped  from  the 
time  of  the  Phoenician  immigration.7  Neither  the  mythological 
stories  of  Sanchuniathon,  preserved  by  Philo  Byblius,8  nor  the 
Sidonian  cosmologies,  preserved  by  Damascius,9  are  of  much 
help  here,  because  both  writers  are  influenced  by  the  mytho- 
logical and  philosophical  notions  of  a  later  time.10    However,  if 

1  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  p.  66.  2  See  above,  p.  53. 

»  Cp.  2  K.  17  :  35.  *  See  above,  p.  33ff.  •  See  above,  p.  58. 

6  See  above,  p.  71ff.  7  See  above,  p.  29. 

8  The  existence  of  2vdwc  =  pt3f  may  be  established  from  II,  11. 

•  See  below,  p.  132. 

10  See  Gruppe,  Die  Griechischen  Kulte  und  Mythen,  p.  385ff. 


NON-PHCENICIAN   DEITIES  131 

the  etymology  of  the  name  p¥  suggested  in  another  connec- 
tion1 is  correct,  one  other  deity  must  have  belonged  at  one  time 
to  the  pantheon  of  Sidon,  namely,  the  non-Semitic  IV,  who 
was  adopted  by  the  Semitic  immigrants  from  the  non-Semitic 
settlers  of  the  country.  The  name  of  this  deity  is  found 
in  only  one  Sidonian  inscription,  but  it  occurs  in  several 
Phoenician  inscriptions  from  other  places.2  Nothing  is  known 
of  him  except  the  name,  which  came  to  be  connected  with  the 
root  TV,  ' '  to  hunt ' ' ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  Philo  has 
him  in  mind  when  he  speaks  of  'Aypsus,  the  first  hunter,  and 
'AXUus,  the  first  fisherman.3 

The  excavations  have  shed  little  light  upon  the  interior  of 
Sidonian  temples  or  the  form  of  worship  practiced  there.  What 
we  do  know  makes  it  probable  that  in  all  essentials  the  worship 
of  the  Phoenicians  resembled  that  of  other  Semitic  nations 
which  had  attained  to  a  similar  degree  of  civilization.  Like  the 
Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings,  the  Sidonian  rulers  gave  ex- 
pression to  their  devotion  by  the  building  or  rebuilding  of 
temples.4  It  was  customary  to  present  votive  offerings,5  to 
erect  memorial  columns,8  and  to  offer  first-fruits.7  The  king,8 
and  sometimes  even  the  queen,9  occupied  the  office  of  pontifex 
maximus. 

The  notions  concerning  a  future  life  remained  undeveloped  to 
the  last.   There  was  no  expectation  of  a  life  beyond  Sheol, 10  and  all 

1  See  above,  p.  13f. 

3  See  below,  p.  165;  C.  I.  S.,  I,  Nos.  102a;  247-249.  A  probable  reason  for 
the  early  disappearance  of  "W  is  suggested  on  p.  14;  see  further  above,  p.  13f. 

3  Phcenicum  historia,  II,  9.     Cp.  La  Grange,  Etudes,  p.  374. 

'SoEsmunazarllandBod-astart.        *  C.I. S., I, No. 5.        •  C.  I.  S.,  I, No. 4. 

7  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  5.  8  Tabnit  and  Esmunazar  I ;  see  inscr.  of  Tabn.,  II.  1,2. 

•  Em-AStart;  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3,  I.  15. 

10  lb.,  I.  8,  mentions  0X21,  which  shows  that  the  departed  were  thought  to 
have  only  a  weak,  shadowy  existence;  cp.  Is.  14:  9ff .  HaleVy  ascribes  to  the 
Sidonian  kings  a  well-developed  spiritual  conception  of  immortality  (Me- 
langes d'epigraphie  et  d' archeologie  sSmitiques,  p.  146ff.,  Congres  internat.  des 
orient.,  1873,  II,  p.  254ff .),  but  this  view  is  based  upon  a  mistranslation  and 
misinterpretation  of  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3, 11.  3. 16.  17.  When  translated  properly, 
the  inscriptions  give  no  support  to  Halevy's  view. 


132  THE   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY   OF   SIDON 

one  could  wish  for  was  a  peaceful  existence  there.  It  was  thought 
that  the  peace  of  the  departed  was  disturbed  by  the  desecration  of 
his  tomb;  therefore  the  bitterest  curses  were  pronounced  upon 
any  one  who  would  dare  to  commit  such  a  crime.1  The  Sidonians 
believed  also,  like  the  Babylonians,2  that  the  lack  of  a  proper 
burial  would  interfere  with  the  rest  of  the  dead  in  Sheol.3  Since 
the  only  immortality  known  was  to  live  in  one's  offspring, 
childlessness  was  looked  upon  as  the  most  dreadful  curse.4 

Fragments  of  two  Phoenician  cosmologies  have  been  handed 
down,  that  of  Sanchuniathon,  preserved  by  Philo  Byblius,  which 
originated  probably  in  Byblos,  and  another  which  comes  from 
Sidon.  A  translation  of  the  latter  is  said  to  have  been  made  by 
Eudemus,  a  pupil  of  Aristotle,  and  an  extract  from  this  transla- 
tion is  preserved  by  Damascius.5  "According  to  this  author — 
i.e.,  Eudemus — the  Sidonians  place  before  all  things  Xp6v<>s, 
II6ffos,e  and  'OixiyXfj.1  Of  II6do$  and  'Op-far],  mixed  as  two  prin- 
ciples, were  born  'Aijp  and  Aupa.  'Aijp  represents,  according  to 
their  view,  the  unmixed  essence  of  the  intelligible,  but  Ad  pa, 
which  is  set  in  motion  by  it,  the  first  living  form  of  the  intelligible. 
Again  from  the  last  two  was  born  a»r«?,8  which  I  think  is  intel- 
ligible reason.' '  Another  recension  of  the  Sidonian  cosmology 
is  credited  to  the  Sidonian  philosopher  Mochus;  this  also  is  pre- 
served by  Damascius:  AW-qp  was  first  and  'Aijp.  These  are  the 
two  principles  of  which  was  born  OuXupd?,  the  intelligible  9*4sf 
which  I  think  is  the  summit  of  the  intelligible.  From  him, 
uniting  with  himself,  they  say,  was  begotten  Xoutwpos,  the 
first  opener;  then  an  egg,  which,  I  believe,  they  call  the  intelli- 

1  76.,  II.  4-12;  20-22;  Tabn.,  II.  3ff.  A  similar  idea  prevailed  in  Babylonia. 
Asurbanapal,  for  example,  boasts  that  he  destroyed  the  graves  of  the  Elam- 
ite  kings  and  dragged  their  bones  to  Assyria;  and  he  rejoices  that  this  will 
leave  their  shades  unprotected.  Rassam  Cyl.,  Col.  VI  11.  70-76;  cp.  Jere- 
mias,  Holle  und  Parodies,  in  Der  Alte  Orient,  I,  3,  p.  13f. 

J  Jastrow,  Religion,  p.  512.     K.A.T.3,  p.  638. 

•  C  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3, 1,  8.  *  76.,  II.  11,  22. 

'  De  principiis  primis,  ed.  Kopp,  §  125.  9  Desire.  7  Mist. 

8  For  wro?,  owl,  should  probably  be  read,  as  in  the  recension  of  Mochus,  wdf? 
an  egg. 


SIDONIAN   COSMOLOGIES  133 

gible  reason;  while  they  call  the  opener  Xouou>p6$,  the  intelligible 
power,  because  he  was  the  first  to  make  a  distinction  between 
(hitherto)  undistinguishable  nature.  However  after  the  two 
principles  is  the  highest  fatfto?,  who  is  one;  in  the  middle  come 
the  two  winds  Xi<p  and  v6t<>s,  which  they  place  even  before 
0bXu>[i6<i.  0uXw/j.6$,  then,  would  be  intelligible  reason  itself,  the 
opener  Xouatopd?,  the  first  order  after  the  intelligible,  and  the 
egg  6  oupavds;  for  it  is  said  that  after  it  was  broken  in  two  there 
were  born  of  it  obpavd?  and  yrj. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  cosmologies  as  preserved  by 
Damascius  contain  many  non-Semitic  elements ;  we  find  our- 
selves in  the  realm  of  Greek  thought  and  speculation,  and  it  is 
not  easy  to  discover  the  Phoenician  elements  hidden  in  the 
account.  Xpfoo?,  though  a  Greek  figure,  may  be  compared  with 
the  Semitic  noun  ti?ty;  jwWo?,  desire,  the  principle  of  action, 
may  be  the  counterpart  of  nil  in  Gen.  i.  2,  as  tf/u/jphg  may  stand 
for  darkness,  which  is  represented  as  being  in  the  beginning  by 
many  nations  of  antiquity;  unless  it  be  identified  with  chaos, 
which  appears  in  the  Phoenician  cosmology  preserved  by  Philo 
Byblius.  The  mixing  of  the  two  may  be  compared  with  the 
brooding  of  the  divine  spirit  upon  the  waters  (Gen.  i.  2).  The 
result  was  the  genesis  of  all  life.  This  seems  to  be  implied  in 
the  joining  of  'Arjp  and  Aupa,  in  accord  with  the  Semitic  cus- 
tom of  expressing  totality  by  the  combination  of  two  related 
nouns,  one  masculine,  the  other  feminine  (Gesenius-Kautzsch, 
Hebrew  Grammar,  122  v.).  The  interpretation  suggested  by 
Damascius  here  and  in  other  parts  of  the  account  probably  was 
not  in  the  Phoenician  source.  The  next  object  to  appear  is  the 
world-egg,  which  is  found  in  the  cosmologies  of  many  peoples. 
The  idea  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  form  of  the  sky, 
which  might  be  likened  to  one-half  of  an  opened  egg,  while  the 
earth  going  downward  would  represent  the  other  half.  With 
this  the  first  recension  comes  to  a  close. 

The  second  shows  some  variations.  Here  AlOvjp  and  'Arjp, 
which  are  probably  to  be  identified  with  'Ajjp  and  Aupa  of  the 
first  recension,  come  first.    OuXwpos  has  been  understood,  though 


134  THE   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY   OF  SIDON 

perhaps  wrongly,  as  the  Greek  form  of  Ebty,  hence  identical 
with  Xp6vo<i,  who  occupies  first  place  in  the  other  account. 
Then  appears  again  the  world-egg,  and  Xooawpos,  the  opener,  viz., 
of  the  egg.  From  the  two  halves  of  the  egg  opened  by  him  were 
formed  heaven  and  earth.  In  this  may  be  seen  a  trace  of  the 
parting  of  the  body  of  Tiamat  in  the  Babylonian  cosmology, 
modified,  perhaps,  under  Egyptian  influence.  Xov<rtop6<s 
reminds  one  of  the  Egyptian  deity  Ptah,  whose  name  may 
have  been  connected  by  the  Phoenicians  with  the  root  nj"l£>  to 
open.  The  allusion  to  the  wind,  especially  the  south  wind  and 
the  southwest  wind,  is  not  quite  clear.  Its  peculiar  position  in 
the  account  and  the  comments  added  may  indicate  that  it  was 
not  a  part  of  the  Phoenician  cosmology,  but  was  added  at  a 
later  time. 

When,  toward  the  close  of  the  Persian  period  and  after  the 
conquest  of  Syria  by  Alexander,  a  closer  relation  was  established 
between  Phoenicia  and  Greece,  Greek  elements  began  to  enter 
into  the  religious  life  and  thought  of  the  Sidonians.  One  result 
of  this  is  seen  in  the  identification  of  Phoenician  deities  with 
deities  belonging  to  the  pantheon  of  Greece.  A&tart  was 
identified  with  the  Greek  'A^poScr^,1  who,  like  Astart,  was  the 
goddess  of  love  and  of  fertility,  both  in  the  animal  and  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom.2  In  Phoenicia  the  worship  of  Aphrodite 
was  accompanied  by  rites  of  an  unchaste  character.  Lucian,  in 
a  paragraph  describing  a  visit  to  the  temple  of  Aphrodite  in 
Byblos,  states  that  women  who  did  not  wish  to  shave  off  their 
hair  in  commemoration  of  the  death  of  Adoni«,  were  compelled 
to  pay  this  penalty :  "Ona  certain  day  they  stand  for  prostitu- 
tion at  the  proper  time;  the  market  is  open  to  strangers  only,  and 
the  pay  goes  as  a  sacrifice  to  Aphrodite."3  At  Aphaka,  near 
Mount  Lebanon,  stood  another  temple  of  Aphrodite,4  in  which 

1  The  Greek  Aphrodite  combined  in  herself  Greek  and  Oriental  elements 
(Roscher,  Lexicon  der  Griech.  und  Rom.  Mythologie,  art.  Aphrodite) ,  which  fact 
would  facilitate  the  identification. 

3  Cp.  Philo  Byblius,  II,  24.  3  De  Syria  dea,  §  6. 

*  Sozomen,  Eccles.  Hist.,  II,  5. 


"pi*  J 

°f  The 
°WV£ftS/TV 

GREEK   DEITIES  135 

repulsive  rites  were  practiced  until  they  were  suppressed  by 
Constantine.1  To  what  extent  similar  rites  were  practiced  in 
Sidon  we  know  not;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
worship  of  Aphrodite  was  purer  there  than  in  other  places. 

Tanith  was  identified  with  "Aprsp.i?.  Artemis  appears  some- 
times as  a  nature  goddess,  causing  fruitfulness,  sometimes  as 
the  ruler  and  guardian  of  the  animal  world,  sometimes  as  the 
protector  of  women  in  childbirth,  and  as  protector  of  children 
during  the  period  of  growth.  Sometimes  she  appears  as  god- 
dess of  death,  and  as  such  she  demands  human  sacrifice.3  Samas, 
the  sungod,  was  identified  with  "Hfoo?,  who  filled  the  same  office 
in  the  Greek  pantheon.  Of  the  identification  of  the  Sidonian 
E§mun  with  the  Greek  'AaxXymoi,  the  god  of  healing,  there  is 
abundant  evidence.  A  trilingual  inscription3  from  Sardinia 
begins  "^Escolapio Merre— 'J«Vr  Kqppn-XTWtQ  ]D&ti!?  pN1?." 
Damascius  writes,4  6  "Eopouvos,  8v  'AaxX^raov  kp^ovaiv.  In  the 
temple  of  Esmun  in  Sidon  has  been  found  a  votive  inscription 
containing  the  name  'AffxXrjmwt*  The  same  identification  is  im- 
plied in  the  reference  of  Antoninus  Martyr  to  a  river  Asclepios 
near  Sidon,6  and  of  Strabo  to  an  Asclepios  grove  between  Beyrut 
and  Sidon.7  The  picture  of  Asclepios  is  found  also  on  a  coin 
from  Sidon.8  Atdwoo?  not  only  appears  as  an  element  in  Sidonian 
names,  but  is  represented  on  many  Sidonian  coins.9  From  this 
latter  fact  Baudissin  infers,  and  perhaps  rightly,  that  Esmun  was 
identified  also  with  Dionysos;  and  he  thinks  that  this  identifica- 

1  Eusebius,  Vit.  Constant.,  Ill,  55.  Though,  as  has  been  said,  the  inscrip- 
tions furnish  no  evidence  of  the  unchaste  character  of  the  Astart  worship,  the 
very  fact  that  she  was  identified  with  a  goddess  whose  worship  was  impure 
may  point  in  that,  direction,  as  also  the  character  of  the  Istar  cult  among 
other  Semitic  nations. 

2  Roscher,  Lexicon,  art.  Artemis.  3  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  143,  1. 
4  Vit.  Isador.,  §  302. 

6  Mitteilungen  der  Vorderasiat.  Gesellsch.,  1904,  p.  316,  No.  12. 
9  See  above,  p.  80. 

7  Geographica,  XVI,  2,  22. 

8  Journal  internal,  d'arch.  numism.,  1902,  pp.  269,  270;  No.  1538 

9  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  pp.  483,  484;  cp.  Rouvier,  in  Journal  internat.  d'arch. 
numism.,  1902,  pp.  99fl\,  131,  229ff. 


136  THE  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY  OF   SIDON 

tion  was  earlier  and  more  popular  than  the  identification  of 
Esmun  with  Asclepios.1 

That  the  popular  'Atc6XXu>  should  be  introduced  into  the 
Phoenician  pantheon  is  not  surprising.  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  89, 
identifies  him  with  a  Phoenician  god  t]£SH.  The  name 
Reseph  is  found  in  the  inscriptions  of  Bod-Astart,  where 
Halevy  explains  it  as  the  name  of  a  Sidonian  deity.2 
While  this  explanation  is  doubtful,  the  other  inscription  shows 
that  Reseph  was  worshiped  by  the  Phoenicians.  Since  the 
root  ntJH  means  to  burn,  the  deity  may  have  been  the  god  of 
fire;  rasbu  and  rasubbu,  derived  probably  from  the  same  root, 
are  epithets  of  the  Assyrian  fire-god.  The  name  occurs  also  in 
a  proper  name  on  an  Egyptian  monument,  and  in  the  city 
name  Raspttna.  The  identification  with  Apollo  is  established 
also  by  the  city  name  Apollonia-Arsuf.3  Apollo  was,  next  to  Zeus, 
the  most  widely  worshiped  deity  in  Greece.  Why  he  should 
be  identified  with  Reseph  is  not  quite  clear  ;  however,  the  iden- 
tification with  a  fire-god  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  fact 
that  from  very  early  times  Apollo  was  connected  with  the  sun. 
lIo<T£tda>v  was  adopted  from  the  Greek  pantheon  to  supply  the 
Phoenicians  with  a  god  of  the  sea,  their  own  pantheon  being 
without  one.4  Honor  was  paid  in  Sidon  to  the  daXd<raio<s  Ze6?,5 
and  in  the  hill  country  east  of  Sidon  to  the  Zeus  opeto?.6  "ODD7 
is  to  be  identified  with  the  Greek  Mvrmoouvr),  the  mother  of  the 
nine  muses.  She  appears  nowhere  as  a  deity  of  promi- 
nence. In  Hesiod,  Theogonia,  915-917,  she  is  named  as  the 
fifth  among  the  seven  goddesses  who  are  enumerated  as  having 
born  children  to  Zeus  She  shares  her  cult  with  her  daugh- 
ters, and  sometimes  she  is  spoken  of  as  being  worshiped 
together  with  other  deities. 

These  are  the  deities  of  whose  worship  in  Sidon  or  by  Sidonians 

1  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  1905,  p.  488.  2  See  below,  p.  145. 

3K.A.T.3,  pp.  224,  478. 

4  Baudissin,  Studien,  II,  p.  177;  but  cp.  La  Grange,  Etudes,  p.  164. 

8  Hesychius,  Lex.,  under  dalaaoioq. 

•  Renan,  Mission,  p.  397.  7  For  13TD. 


PRESENT   RELIGIOUS  CONDITION  137 

we  have  positive  information.  That  other  Phoenician  and  Greek 
deities1  had  shrines  there  cannot  be  doubted,  but  for  additional 
light  we  must  look  to  the  excavations  of  the  future. 

Christianity  was  introduced  in  Sidon  very  early  in  the  Apos- 
tolic age;2  in  the  fourth  century  the  city  was  the  seat  of  a  Christian 
bishop,3  and  the  writings  of  the  pilgrims  show  that  he  continued 
to  reside  there.4  With  the  Mohammedan  conquest  of  Syria 
Islam  was  introduced  there,  and  it  has  remained  the  predominant 
religion  in  the  city  to  the  present  day.  During  the  period  of  the 
Crusades  the  Christians  had  at  times  the  upper  hand,  but  after 
the  final  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  Christians  Islam  pre- 
vailed, though  the  Christians  continued  to  reside  there.  The 
latter  did  not  remain  unaffected  by  the  schisms  which  troubled 
the  Church  from  time  to  time,  and  as  a  result  different  sects 
arose.  Jews,  though  at  times  few  in  number,  have  always  been 
found  there.5  In  1851  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission 
opened  a  station,  which  has  done  excellent  work,  especially 
along  educational  lines.  In  1896  Cuinet  distributed  the  popula- 
tion of  about  11,000  among  the  different  religions  as  follows: 
8,000  Moslems,  2,250  Catholics  (made  up  of  Roman  Catholics, 
Greek  United,  Greek  Orthodox,  and  Maronites),  600  Jews,  and 
180  Protestants.6 

1  DimaSki  mentions  a  temple  of  Mercury,  the  Greek  Hermes,  in  Sidon ; 
Nukhbat  ad-dahr,  ed.  Mehren,  p.  43. 

2  See  above,  p.  79.  | 

3  See  above,  p.  79. 

4  Cp.  also  Orientalische  Bibliographie,  XVII,  56S7;  XVIII,  5920,  5921. 

6  In  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  many  Jews  in 
Sidon,  who  dwelt  in  a  quarter  by  themselves,  the  keys  of  which  were  carried 
every  night  to  the  Kadi  or  the  governor.     D'Arvieux,  M&moires,  I,  p.  301. 

8  For  religious  institutions  see  above,  p.  109. 


V.    ANTIQUITIES  AND  INSCRIPTIONS 


The  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Sidon  has  supplied  more  objects 
of  historical  and  archaeological  interest  than  any  other  city  in 
Phoenicia.  Three  localities  have  given  forth  most  of  these 
objects — the  necropolis  in  the  south,1  the  necropolis  in  the  east,2 
and  the  site  of  the  temple  of  Esmun.  The  first  necropolis  was 
discovered  in  January,  1855.  While  some  natives  were  digging 
for  treasures  near  Maghdret  Abltin  they  came  upon  a  sarcophagus, 
the  cover  of  which  contained  a  Phoenician  inscription  of  twenty- 
two  lines,  the  first  found  in  Phoenicia  proper.  The  sarcophagus 
proved  to  be  that  of  Esmunazar  II,  king  of  Sidon.3  Though 
additional  excavations  were  carried  on  in  the  same  place,4  it 
remained  the  only  find  of  value.  The  discoveries  in  the  eastern 
necropolis  have  been  more  numerous  and  important.  The 
most  productive  excavations  there  took  place  in  1887,  and  the 
most  interesting  finds  were  again  sarcophagi.5 

The  tombs,  which  are  all  cut  in  limestone  rocks,  are  of  various 
kinds.  These  were  described  by  Renan6  long  before  Hamdy 
Bey  made  his  remarkable  discoveries,  and  the  latter  have  con- 
firmed the  conclusions  of  the  earlier  writer  in  all  essentials. 
Renan  distinguishes  between  three  kinds  of  tombs.  1.  Rectan- 
gular grottoes,  which  are  entered  from  above  by  perpendicular 
shafts  ten  to  thirteen  feet  in  depth  and  three  to  seven  feet  in 
width.  Steps  are  cut  in  the  side  of  the  shafts  which  lead  to 
doors  opening  into  plain,  unadorned  chambers.  In  only  two 
cases  did  Renan  find  the  two  chambers  connected.     This  kind 


1  See  above  p.  5.  3  See  above  p.  5. 

1  Schlottmann,  Die  Inschrift  Eschmunazars,  p.  2. 
*  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  X,  p.  820. 

1 0.  Hamdy  et  The\  Reinach,  Une  nicropole  royale  a  Sidon,  Paris,  1892, 
passim.,  cp.  P.  E.  F.,  1887,  pp.  210-212;  1888,  p.  5ff.;  p.  140. 
6  Mission  de  Phinicie,  p.  401ff. 

138 


TOMBS  AND   SARCOPHAGI  139 

he  considers  the  oldest.  2.  Vaulted  grottoes  with  side  niches 
for  the  sarcophagi,  or  merely  with  square  holes  in  the  ground, 
and  with  airholes  communicating  with  the  surface  above.  3. 
Grottoes  cemented  with  lime,  and  decorated  in  Greek,  Roman, 
or  Christian  style,  and  generally  furnished  with  Greek  inscrip- 
tions. Some  of  these  also  have  airholes.  Sometimes  grottoes  of 
an  earlier  kind  have  been  remodeled  in  a  later  style.1  The  sar- 
cophagi also  are  of  different  styles.  The  grottoes  of  the  first 
kind,  which  are  the  oldest,  contain  marble  sarcophagi  of  anthro- 
poid form,  i.e.,  receptacles  accurately  fitted  to  the  shape  of  the 
human  body.  In  time  these  sarcophagi  assumed  a  more  simple 
form,  when  only  the  position  of  the  head  was  indicated  by  a 
narrowing  of  the  receptacle  at  one  end.  Sarcophagi  of  lead 
and  some  with  simple  three-edged  lids  are  also  found.  The 
sarcophagi  in  the  grottoes  of  the  second  kind  are  generally  of 
clay;  those  in  the  grottoes  of  the  third  kind  resemble  baths  in 
shape  and  are  highly  decorated.2 

Of  the  numerous  sarcophagi  found  in  these  burying  places  only 
two  are  of  positive  historical  value,  but  two  others  may  be  con- 
sidered briefly  on  account  of  their  artistic  beauty — the  sarcophagus 
of  the  mourning'  women  and  the  one  called  the  sarcophagus  of 
Alexander3,  both  of  which  are  beautiful  specimens  of  ancient  art. 
Lewis  describes  the  former  in  these  words :  "It  represents  a  Greek 
Ionic  temple  in  antis,  but  with  three-quarter  columns  only 
between  the  two  antae,  and  three-quarter  columns  to  the  sides. 
Between  each  two  columns  or  antse  is  a  female  figure  showing 
signs  of  deep  affliction.  In  all  there  are  eighteen  of  these 
statues.  The  temple  rests  on  a  stylobate,  having  a  finely 
moulded  base  and  surbase,  the  dado  being  enriched  with  figures, 
partly  sculptured  and  partly  painted.  The  cover  represents  the 
roof  of  a  temple,  and  in  the  pediment  at  each  end  is  a  fine  group 

1  Renan,  Mission,  pp.  407,  408. 

2  lb.,  p.  411 ;  cp.  also  Perrot  et  Chipiez,  Histoire  de  I'art,  III,  p.  151ff. 

3  The  reason  for  giving  this  name  to  the  sarcophagus  is  stated  below.  All 
ancient  tradition  points  to  Egypt  as  the  final  resting  place  of  the  great  con- 
queror.    P.E.F.,  1894,  p.  120ff. 


140  ANTIQUITIES   AND   INSCRIPTIONS 

of  sculpture.  As  a  curious  variation  from  the  temple  form, 
there  is  along  each  side,  surmounting  the  cornice,  a  tablet,  on 
which  is  carved  a  funeral  procession."1  Sittl  thinks2  that  this 
sarcophagus  reflects  the  art  of  the  fourth  century  B.C. 

The  so-called  sarcophagus  of  Alexander  is  the  grandest  in  the 
collection.  It  is  made  of  one  block  of  white  marble,  about 
eleven  feet  long,  with  a  coped  and  pedimented  cover.  It  has 
no  columnar  decorations,  but  possesses  an  enriched  cornice  and 
base.  The  panels  between  these  on  each  side  are  filled  with 
sculptures  of  marvelously  fine  execution.  On  two  sides  the 
subject  is  the  chase,  on  the  other  two  are  represented  combats 
between  warriors,  both  on  horse  and  on  foot.  One  prominent 
figure  reminded  Hamdy  Bey  of  that  of  Darius  in  a  mosaic  from 
Pompeii,  and  another  prominent  figure,  he  thinks,  represents 
Alexander;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  sculptures  repre- 
sent conflicts  between  the  Persians  and  the  great  Macedonian. 
The  cover  is  the  conventional  coped  form,  but  it  is  enriched  with 
rows  of  heads  on  the  eaves  line  and  on  the  ridge.  At  each  end 
of  the  eaves  is  a  lion.3  Sittl  places  this  sarcophagus  in  the  period 
of  the  Seleucidae.4 

As  works  of  art,  these  two  sarcophagi,  and  to  a  less  extent 
others  which  have  been  unearthed,  are  exceedingly  interesting, 
but  of  direct  historical  interest  are  only  two,  the  sarcophagus 
of  Esmunazar  II  and  that  of  his  father  Tabnit.  The  former 
was  discovered  on  January  19,  1855,  a  short  distance  south  of 
Sidon.  ' '  On  the  19th  of  January  last, ' '  reads  one  of  the  early 
descriptions  of  the  find,  "some  men  were  digging  for  more  hid 
treasures  in  the  ancient  cemetery  on  the  plain  of  Sidon,  called 
Mughorat  Tubloon,  when,  at  the  depth  of  about  twelve  feet 
below  the  surface,  and  near  the  walls  of  an  ancient  edifice,  they 

1  P.  E.  F.,  1888,  pp.  5,  6.  A  fuller  description  is  given  by  Reinach,  Une 
nicropole,  chap.  V,  p.  238ff. 

3  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  Milnchen,  1895,  p.  656. 

8  Reinach,  chap.  VI,  p.  272ff.  ;  P.  E.  F.,  1888,  p.  6  ;  1894,  p.  120ff.  An 
excellent  description,  a  reprint  from  the  Bachir  of  Beyrut,  is  in  P.  E.F.,  1887, 
pp.  204,  205.  *  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  pp.  684,  685. 


ALEXANDER  AND   ESMUNAZAR  141 

uncovered  a  sarcophagus,  upon  the  lid  of  which  is  a  long  Phoeni- 
cian inscription.  The  lid  is  of  a  blue-black  marble,  intensely 
hard  and  taking  a  very  fine  polish.  The  lid  is  about  eight  feet 
long  by  four  feet  wide.  The  upper  end  is  wrought  into  the 
figure  of  a  female  (?)*  head  and  shoulders  of  almost  a  giant  size. 
The  features  are  Egyptian,  with  large,  full,  almond-shaped  eyes, 
the  nose  flattened  and  the  lips  remarkably  thick  and  somewhat 
after  the  negro  mould.  The  whole  countenance  is  smiling, 
agreeable,  and  expressive  beyond  anything  I  have  ever  seen  in 
the  disinterred  monuments  of  Egypt  or  Nineveh.  The  head- 
dress resembles  that  which  appears  in  Egyptian  figures,  while  on 
each  shoulder  there  is  the  head  of  some  kind  of  bird — a  dove  or 
pigeon — and  the  bosom  is  covered  by  what  appears  to  be  a  sort 
of  cape  with  a  deep  fringe,  as  of  lace.  On  the  lid,  below  the 
figurehead,  is  the  inscription,  consisting  of  twenty-two  lines, 
closely  written. ' ,a 

From  this  inscription,  which  was  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, it  was  soon  learned  that  the  sarcophagus,  though  of  Egyp- 
tian make,3  contained  at  one  time  the  body  of  Esmunazar  II, 
king  of  Sidon,  the  son  of  Tabnit,  king  of  Sidon,  the  grandson  of 
Esmunazar  I,  king  of  Sidon.  In  the  inscription  the  younger 
Esmunazar  bewails  the  fact  that  he  was  taken  away  so  early 
in  life.  He  states  that  he  has  prepared  his  own  resting  place,  and 
prays  that  no  one  may  disturb  his  remains;  but  if  anyone  should 
molest  his  tomb,  may  the  curse  of  heaven  rest  upon  him.4  In 
the  second  part  he  gives  his  genealogy  and  states  that  he  reigned 
together  with  his  mother;  he  enumerates  the  temples  erected  by 
them,  acknowledges  the  gift  of  Dor  and  Joppa  from  the  lord  of 
kings,  and  closes  with  a  reiteration  of  the  petition  for  the  curse 

1  Closer  examination  has  shown  it  to  be  a  male  figure;  cp.  Meier,  Die 
Grabschrift  des  sidonischen  Konigs  Eschmun-ezer,  p.  2.  Other  literature  deal- 
ing with  this  inscription  is  referred  to  in  other  parts  of  this  chapter.  Cp.  also 
Hoffmann,  Ueber  einige  phonikische  Inschriften,  p.  30ff. ;  that  of  Tabnit  is  dis- 
cussed on  p.  57f.     La  Grange,  Etudes,  p.  404ff. ;  Tabnit,  p.  408ff. 

3  J.  A.O.  S.,  V,  p.  228;  cp.  also  Reinach,  Une  nicropole,  p.  127ff. 

3  Renan,  Mission,  p.  413ff. 

4  See  above  p.,  132. 


142  ANTIQUITIES  AND  INSCRIPTIONS 

of  heaven  upon  anyone  who  may  dare  to  desecrate  his  resting 
place.1 

The  sarcophagus  of  Tabnit  is  in  some  respects  a  counterpart 
of  that  of  Esmunazar.2  It  was  uncovered  on  May  31,  1887,  in 
the  necropolis  east  of  Sidon.9  This  sarcophagus  is  of  black 
marble;  like  that  of  Esmunazar  it  is  anthropoid  in  shape;  but 
while  the  latter  shows  the  human  form  only  in  the  head  and 
shoulders,  the  lines  of  the  sarcophagus  running  from  there 
straight  down,  the  sarcophagus  of  Tabnit  has  the  flowing  lines, 
and  so  gives  a  more  complete  outline  of  the  figure.  The  measure- 
ments of  the  lid  Hamdy  Bey  states  to  be  as  follows : 

Length  from  head  to  foot  2  metres  30  ctm. 

Width  of  shoulders 1  metre    10  " 

Width  of  feet 80  " 

Thickness  of  feet 40  " 

Length  of  hieroglyphic  lines 70  " 

Width  of  hieroglyphic  lines  10  " 

Length  of  the  Phoenician  inscription   57  " 

There  are  eleven  lines  of  hieroglyphic  writing,  the  epitaph 
of  an  Egyptian  general  Penptah,  covering  the  lower  part  of  the 
lid.  "  In  this  inscription, ' '  says  Berger,  '  •  we  have  the 
evident  proof  that  we  are  in  the  presence  of  a  sarcophagus 
of  Egyptian  make,4  which  was  diverted  from  its  primary 
destination  and  sold  to  Phoenicia,  to  receive  the  remains  of  a 
Phoenician  prince."5  A  Phoenician  inscription  of  seven  and  a 
half  lines  covers  the  feet.     In  substance  it  resembles  that  of 

1  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3. 

2  Reinach,  Une  ntcropole,  p.  128;  Berger,  in  Rev.  arch.,  1887,  II,  p.  4.  The 
Egyptian  inscription  is  discussed  on  p.  8f. 

3  For  a  full  account  of  the  discovery  and  description  of  the  finds  see  Rev. 
arch.,  1887,  p.  138ff.;  Hamdy  et  Reinach,  Une  ntcropole,  pp.  86ff.,  127ff. 

4  But  cp.  Rev.  arch.,  1905,  II,  p.  31ff . 

5  Rev.  arch.,  1887,  II,  p.  5.  Just  how  this  sarcophagus  and  that  of  Esmun- 
zar  came  to  Sidon,  it  is  difficult  to  tell.  Probably  it  was  stolen  from  an 
Egyptian  tomb.  If  so,  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  Artaxerxes  Ochus  would 
furnish  a  suitable  occasion.     See  Rev.  arch.,  1887,  II,  p.  10. 


TABNIT  AND   BOD-ASTART  143 

Esmunazar,  though  it  is  much  briefer.  It  opens  with  the  gene- 
alogy of  the  king, ' '  Tabnit,  priest  of  Astart,  king  of  the  Sidonians, 
son  of  Esmunazar,  priest  of  Astart,  king  of  the  Sidonians, ' '  and 
continues  and  closes  with  a  curse  upon  anyone  who  might  dare 
to  open  and  disturb  his  resting  place.1  The  two  inscriptions 
name  three  generations  of  Sidonian  kings,  Esmunazar  I,  Tabnit, 
Esmunazar  II. 

In  1858,  only  three  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  sarcophagus 
of  Esmunazar,  the  English  Consul,  Mr.  Moore,  discovered  on  the 
site  of  the  ancient  city  a  votive  inscription  of  illil  WD,  king 
of  the  Sidonians,2  in  which  he  states  that  he  erected  in  the 
beginning  of  his  reign  a  pGP  to  Astart.  A  bilingual  inscrip- 
tion found  in  1877  on  the  island  of  Delos3  contains  a  similar 
name,  mfiWD)?,  who  is  said  to  have  been  king  of  the 
Sidonians.  Though  the  two  names  are  similar,  there  is  enough 
dissimilarity  in  the  first  elements  of  the  two  names  to  preclude 
an  identification  of  the  two  kings,  and  there  is  insufficient 
reason  for  regarding  the  former  an  abbreviation  of  the  latter.4 

Within  more  recent  years  the  former  name  has  been  found  in 
a  number  of  inscriptions  which  have  been  unearthed,  since  1900, 
in  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Esmun  temple,  south  of  the  Nahr-al- 
Auwaly.5  All  these  inscriptions  represent  copies,  with  important 
variations  in  some  cases,  of  the  inscriptions  of  Bod-Astart  com- 
memorating the  erection  of  the  temple.8  These  inscriptions 
have  proved  very  troublesome  to  epigraphists,  and  opinions 
vary  still  widely  concerning  the  reading  and  translation  of  some 

1  V.  Landau,  Beitrage  zur  Altertumskunde  des  Orient,  II,  p.  5,  No.  4. 

2  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  4;  Levy,  Phonizische  Studien,  III,  p.  25ff.  Ewald,  in 
Abhandlungen  der  Kbniglichen  Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften  in  Gbttingen,  1866, 
p.  105ff.  pl^  is  a  word  of  uncertain  meaning;  see  Lidzbarski,  Handbuch, 
s.v.  pty.     Von  Landau  suggests  the  translation  memorial  column. 

3  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  114;  cp.  Bull,  de  corresp.  hell,  1878,  pp.  9,  10. 
*J.A.O.  8.,  XXIII,  p.  170.  5  See  above,  p.  8. 
8  V.  Landau,  Mitt,  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1904,  p.  282,  mentions 

ten  of  the  first  class,  i.e.,  inscriptions  without  the  name  of  Bod-Astart's  son; 
ib.,  1905,  p.  11,  he  names  ten  of  the  second  class,  i.e.,  such  as  contain  that 
name.     Cp.  Der  Alte  Orient,  VIII,  3,  p.  14ff. 


144  ANTIQUITIES  AND   INSCRIPTIONS 

parts  of  the  inscriptions,  as  well  as  concerning  their  date.  Of 
the  first  class  we  may  select  as  a  typical  example  the  inscription 
published  by  Torrey.1    This  inscription  he  reads: 

•po  p  p  ony  ifrn  nnnwnn  *po 
o*  pno  Dm*  ~pn  "mom 

p  fc>N  ^tro  pvo  t)Bn  pN  DO")  DBtf> 

•w?  d  r  mn  rw  ibo  nvo 

trip  *w  piwrt 

This  is  his  translation: 

"The  king,  Bod-Astart,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  grandson  of 
king  Esmunazar,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  reigning  in  Sidon-on-the- 
sea,  High-Heavens,  and  the  Reshep  district,  belonging  to  Sidon; 
who  built  this  house  like  the  eyrie  of  an  eagle  \  (he)  built  it  for 
his  god  Esmun,  the  Holy  Lord. ' ' 

In  a  subsequent  article2  he  suggests  one  alteration  in  the 
fourth  line;  he  combines  the  first  two  words,  reading  them, 
"HM^W,  which  he  translates  " and  he  solidly  walled."3  In  all 
other  respects  he  adheres  to  his  first  reading  and  interpretation. 

The  difficulties  begin  in  line  two,  right  after  the  name  and  title 
of  the  king's  grandfather.  Beginning  there  v.  Landau  trans- 
lates:4 "In  Sidon-sea,  the  high  heavens,  earth,  netherworld, 
Sidon  rules,  what  in  it  and  Sidon  is  ruler.  This  temple  he  has 
built."  This  literal  reproduction  he  retranslates:5  "In  Sidon 
on  the  sea,  in  Samim-ramim  in  Eres-resaf im,  Sidon,  has  he  been 
successful  in  that  which  he  has  built.  And  in  Sidon  in  the 
plain  has  he  built  this  temple. ' '  In  the  terms  Sidon  on  the  sea,, 
Samim-ramim  =  high  heavens,  Eres-resaftm  =  netherworld  r 
Sidon  in  the  plain,  he  finds  an  illustration  of  the  cosmological 
theories  of  Winckler,6  and  he  thinks  that  they  denote  at  least 

'J.A.O.  S.,  XXIII,  p.  156ff. 

2J.A.O.  S.,  XXIV,  p.  21  Iff.;  cp.  also  XXV,  p.  324ff. 
s  Ibid.,  XXIV,  pp.  216,  217. 

*  Mitt,  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1904,  p.  321.  •  lb.,  p.  328. 

9  Himmelsbild  und  Weltenbild,  Leipzig,  1901,  in  Der  A  Ite  Orient,  vol.  Ill 
p.  22ff. 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF   BOD-ASTART  145 

three  different  quarters  of  Sidon,1  which  were  looked  upon  as 
reflections  of  different  spheres  of  heaven.2  Berger  thinks  that 
the  meaning  of  the  names  is  still  an  open  question.3  Clermont- 
Ganneau  recognizes  five  place  names  in  the  inscription — Sidon  on 
the  sea,  Samim-ramim,  Eres-resafim,  Sidon-Misal,  Sidon  of 
the  plain.4  Halevy  thinks  that  the  names  are  names  of  deities 
and  not  of  places,  and  he  translates:  "In  Sidon  (the  gods)  Yam, 
Samim-ramim,  Eres-resafim,  Sidon  constitute  the  government 
which  is  in  our  midst,  and  (the  god)  Sidon  exercises  the  sov- 
ereignty. '  '5  The  exact  meaning  of  the  terms  cannot  be  consid- 
ered definitely  determined,  and  yet  it  seems  most  natural  to 
interpret  them  as  denoting  different  quarters  of  Sidon.  On  the 
whole,  Torrey,  who  indulges  in  the  least  amount  of  speculation, 
seems  to  offer  the  explanation  which  is  at  once  the  most  simple 
and  the  most  satisfactory.6 

The  inscription  raises,  however,  other  questions.  Bod- 
Astart  calls  himself  "grandson  of  king  Esmunazar,  king  of  the 
Sidonians. ' '  Is  this  the  Esmunazar  who  is  called  the  father  of 
Tabnit  and  the  grandfather  of  Esmunazar  II?  If  so,  what  is 
the  relation  of  Bod-Astart  to  Tabnit  and  Esmunazar  II?  The 
first  question  is  answered  almost  universally  in  the  affirmative. 
Von  Landau  is  the  only  one  among  recent  writers  who  seems 
inclined  to  assume  another  dynasty.  He  places  the  dynasty 
of  Esmunazar  and  Tabnit  in  the  period  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  that 
of  Esmunazar  and  Bod-A§tart  in  the  Persian  period.7  Those 
who  believe  that  Bod-A§tart  belongs  to  the  dynasty  known 

1  Mitteil.  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1904,  p.  324.  He  calls  them 
Sidon  on  the  sea,  Sidon,  Sidon  on  the  plain. 

2  Sidon  on  the  sea  =  the  heavenly  ocean;  Sidon  =  DD1  DDIP  =  the  upper 
heaven;  Sidon  on  the  plain  =  D3&5H  |nx  =  the  realm  of  fire  =  the  heavenly- 
earth.  8  M6m.  de  Vacad.  des  inscr.  et  belles  lettres,  XXXVII,  p.  265ff. 

*  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  V,  p.  225. 

6  Rev.  Simit.,  1905,  p.  68ff.;  cp.  1902,  p.  347ff.;  1903,  p.  48ff. 

'  A  brief  resum6  of  the  various  attempts  to  translate  and  interpret  the  in- 
scriptions of  Bod-Astart  may  be  found  in  Repertoire  d' 6pigraphie  se'mitique, 
I,  p.  234ff. 

7  Mitt,  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1904,  p.  307;  1905,  p.  9. 

10 


146  ANTIQUITIES   AND   INSCRIPTIONS 

from  the  other  inscriptions  held,  until  quite  recently,  that 
Bod-Astart  was  the  son  of  a  son  of  Esmunazar  I,  who  had 
never  come  to  the  throne,  and  that  he  became  king  after  the 
death  of  Esmunazar  II.1  But  when  an  inscription  was  dis- 
covered containing  the  name  of  a  king  frVp*1¥,  in  a  position 
where  the  name  of  Bod-Astart's  father  might  be  expected, 
it  became  necessary  to  reopen  the  subject,  for  room  had  to  be 
found  for  another  king.  The  question  assumed  a  new  aspect  when 
additional  inscriptions  associating  the  two  names  mHWD 
and  JJTp"l¥  were  discovered,  for  it  was  found  that  the  first 
discovered  inscription  had  been  read  incorrectly,  and  that  the 
views  based  upon  the  incorrectly  read  text  had  to  be  modified. 
The  following  may  be  considered  an  accurate  reproduction  of  one 
of  these  inscriptions:2 

orrc  ^pa  T*?a  |n»p-rc  pi  riv«TO  *po 
p  r  ran  nm  on*  t*?o  -hjnqb>k  "f?b  p  p 

trip  1B>  ptrN1?  *wh 

The  presence  of  the  conjunction  1  after  PDnwy*M  in  the 
first  line  suggests  that  the  relationship  between  Bod-Astart 
and  Sedek-yathon  is  not  the  same  as  that  indicated  in  the 
inscriptions  in  which  the  conjunction  is  absent;  in  other  words, 
that  Bod-Astart  does  not  mean  to  call  Sedek-yathon  his  father. 
A  literal  translation  of  11.  1,  2  would  be:  "King  Bod-Astart, 
and  the  son  Sedek-yathon,  the  king,  the  king  of  the  Sidonians, 
built  this  house";  which  means  that  Bod-Astart  and  Sedek- 
yathon  were  associated  in  the  building  enterprise.3    ' '  The  son, ' ' 

1  Berger,  Memoires  de  I'acad.  des  inscr.  et  belles  lettres,  XXXVII,  pp.  288, 
289 ;  Clermont-Ganneau,  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  V,  p.  249 ;  Torrey,  J.A.O.S.,  XXIII, 
p.  168,  n.  1. 

2  Mitt,  der  V order asiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1905,  p.  5. 

3  The  omission  of  the  1  as  due  to  a  mistake  of  the  ancient  writer  would 
remove  the  peculiarity  and  bring  this  inscription  into  accord  with  other  royal 
inscriptions  from  Sidon,  but  the  fact  that  the  1  is  found  in  every  inscription 
containing  the  two  names  is  a  strong  argument  against  the  textual  emenda- 
tion. 


INSCRIPTIONS  OF   BOD-ASTART  147 

in  the  first  line,  may  be  equivalent  to  "his  son,"  i.e.,  the  son  of 
Bod-Astart  ;  he  is  called  also  T??^  but  there  is  no  indication 
of  the  place  where  he  ruled.  This  omission  has  led  von  Landau 
to  take  ififc  in  the  sense  of  "member  of  the  ruling  dynasty" 
or  "prince/'  more  particularly  "crown  prince,"  the  prince 
who  is  expected  to  succeed  the  king  upon  the  throne.1  A  similar 
usage  is  found  in  southern  Arabia,  and  there  is  nothing  improb- 
able in  the  suggestion.  In  classical  Arabic  the  corresponding 
noun  is  used  with  the  meaning  vizier.  If  it  is  adopted,  the 
entire  inscription  may  be  translated:  "King  Bod-Astart  and 
(his)  son  Sedek-yathon,  the  crown  prince,  king  of  the  Sidonians,2 
grandson  of  king  Esmunazar,  king  of  the  Sidonians,  built  this 
house  to  his  god  Esmun,  the  holy  lord. ' ' 

This  translation  makes  Sedek-yathon  not  the  father,  but  the 
son  of  Bod-Astart;  as  a  result  the  first  explanation,  that  Bod- 
Astart  was  the  son  of  an  otherwise  unknown  son  of  Esmunazar 
I,  must  be  retained.  The  following  diagram  will  show  the 
genealogy  of  the  kings  of  the  Esmunazar  dynasty  :3 

Esmunazar  I 


Tabnit  married  Em-Astart  x    married    y 

Esmunazar  II  Bod-Astart 

Sedek-yathon 


1  Mitt,  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1905,  p.  8;  but  cp.  A.  0.,  VIII,  17 

2  "King  of  the  Sidonians"  refers  to  Bod- Altar t. 

3  Of  those  who  consider  Sedek-yathon  the  father  of  Bod-A&tart,  Torrey 
believes  the  order  of  succession  to  have  been  Esmunazar  I,  Sedek-yathon, 
Tabnit,  Bod-Astart,  Esmunazar  II  (Em-AStart) ;  J.A.O.  S.,  XXIV,  p.  218ff. 
On  the  other  hand,  Rouvier  arranges  them  in  the  order  Esmunazar  I,  Tabnit, 
Esmunazar  II,  Sedek-yathon,  Bod-A§tart;  see  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  VI,  p.  166. 
Dussaud  still  holds  that  the  father  of  Bod-As"tart  never  was  king,  and  he 
arranges  the  kings  in  this  order:  Esmunazar  I,  Tabnit,  Esmunazar  II,  Bod- 
Astart;  Rev.  arch.,  1905,  I,  p.  Iff.    These  views,  which  are  based  upon  the 


148  ANTIQUITIES  AND   INSCRIPTIONS 

Of  the  reign  of  Esmunazar  I  we  know  nothing;  Tabnit  was 
still  in  middle  life  when  he  died;1  Esmunazar  II  ruled  fourteen 
years  and  died,  still  a  young  man,  without  children.  It  was 
then  that  Bod-Astart,  his  cousin,  came  to  the  throne  and  enjoyed 
a  long  reign.2  What  became  of  Sedek-yathon  we  do  not  know. 
He  may  have  died  before  his  father;  at  any  rate,  nothing  has  come 
to  light  thus  far  to  show  that  he  ever  came  to  the  throne. 

With  this  interpretation  agrees,  on  the  whole,  Clermont-Gan- 
neau,3  though  he  differs  in  important  details.  In  I.  1  he  pro- 
poses to  group  the  words  differently;  p1¥  he  does  not  consider 
a  part  of  the  name,  but  connecting  it  with  p,  he  translates  the 
two  words  "the  legitimate  son,"  to  which  he  gives  the  same 
meaning  which  is  given  above  to  *fiD,  ' l  crown  prince ' ' ;  then, 
connecting  fJT  with  *]*?D,  he  reads  the  name  of  the  crown 
prince  "j^WV,4  and  the  whole  of  I.  lt"  The  king  Bod-A§tart, 
and  the  crown  prince  Yathon-melek,  the  king  of  the  Sidonians." 
The  combination  ^ft^rV  is  peculiar;  ordinarily  the  divine  name 
"] 7D  is  found  in  first  place,  followed  by  an  Imperfect,  and  not  in 
second  place,  preceded  by  a  Perfect.  For  this  reason  the  reading 
jrVpTV  seems  preferable. 

The  most  difficult  question  remains  yet  to  be  considered, 
namely,  the  date  of  the  Esmunazar  dynasty.  Differences  of 
opinion  on  this  point  began  with  the  first  translation  of  the 
inscription  of  Esmunazar.  Salisbury  assigned  it  to  the  latter 
half  of  the  generation  intervening  between  the  destruction  of 
Sidon  by  Artaxerxes  Ochus  and  its  surrender  to  Alexander;  in 
other  words,  c.  340  B.C.5  With  him  agreed  W.  W.  Turner.6 
Ewald  was  inclined  to  date  it  at  least  as  early  as  the  eleventh 

early  erroneous  reading  of  the  text,  can  no  longer  be  held.  The  reading  and 
interpretation  adopted  above  removes  also  the  difficulty  which  was  raised  by 
the  erroneous  reading  DD^D  "j^D ;  J.A.O.  S.,  XXIV,  p.  223. 

lJ.A.O.  S.,  XXIII,  p.  168,  n.  2. 

3  The  character  of  the  ruins  of  the  Esmun  temple  shows  that  Bod-Astart  had 
a  long  reign;  cp.  Mitteil.  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1905,  p.  Iff. 

8  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  VI,  p.  337ff. 

*  Cp.  also  Rev.  arch.,  1905,  I,  p.  9;  now  also  v.  Landau,  A.  0.,  VIII,  17. 

5  /.  A .  0.  S.,  V,  p.  243.  8  lb.,  p.  259. 


DATE   OF  E&MUNAZAR   DYNASTY  149 

century  B.C.1  Hitzig  placed  it  before  the  last  decade  of  the 
seventh  century  B.C.2  The  Duke  de  Luynes  thought  that  the 
historical,  linguistic,  palseographic,  and  artistic  data  all  pointed 
to  574-572  B.C.3  Finally,  Levy  dated  it  c.  335.4  The  difference 
of  opinion  was  due  to  the  absence  of  decisive  data,  on  the  basis  of 
which  the  question  could  be  determined  definitely.  Later 
discoveries  have  added  to  the  data  supplied  by  the  Esmunazar 
inscription,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  accept  any  longer  the  early 
date  proposed  by  Ewald;  but  they  are  still  indefinite  enough  to 
leave  much  room  for  differences  of  opinion.  In  1873  Halevy 
defended  the  date  suggested  by  the  Duke  de  Luynes,5  and  after 
the  discovery  of  the  necropolis  east  of  Sidon  in  1887,  Reinach 
expressed  the  view  that  the  dynasty  of  Esmunazar  was  con- 
temporaneous with  the  Persian  kings  of  the  second  half  of  the 
sixth  century  B.C."  In  support  of  this  view  he  calls  attention 
to  the  character  of  the  sarcophagi,  their  disposition  in  the  funeral 
chambers,  the  order  in  which  different  methods  of  burial  were 
practiced,  the  place  occupied  by  the  sarcophagus  of  Tabnit  as 
compared  with  the  location  of  the  other  sarcophagi,  and  the 
resemblance  of  the  articles  found  in  the  necropolis  to  similar 
articles  found  in  Egypt.  From  all  the  facts  in  the  case  he  drew  the 
conclusion  that  the  sarcophagus  of  Tabnit  was  the  oldest  of  those 
found  at  Ayaa;  but  to  provide  room  for  all  the  others,  he  thought 
he  must  assign  Tabnit  to  the  sixth  century,  c.  520  B.C.7  An 
earlier  date  even  is  advocated  by  Porter.  ' '  It  is  difficult, ' '  says 
he,  "to  find  space  for  such  a  dynasty  any  time  subsequent  to 
Nebuchadrezar,  so  as  to  accord  with  the  known  facts  in  the 
history  of  Phoenicia. ' ,8 
A  much  later  date  has  been  advocated  for  many  years  by 

1  Erklarung  der  grossen  phonizischen  Inschrift  von  Sidon,  p.  49ff. 

a  Die  Grabschrift  des  Esmunazar,  p.  37ff. 

'  Memoire  sur  le  sarcophage  et  I'inscription  funeraire  de  ESmunazar,  p.  55ff. 

4  Phonizische  Studien,  I,  p.  41. 

5  Congres  Internat.  des  orient.,  1873,  \er  session,  II,  p.  245. 
8  Une  ntcropole,  p.  343ff. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  373.     See  also  Rev.  arch.,  1905,  II,  p.  54. 

8  P.  E.  F.,  1903,  p.  335. 


150  ANTIQUITIES  AND  INSCRIPTIONS 

Clermont-Ganneau,  and  is  accepted  now  by  many  other  scholars.1 
The  argument  in  favor  of  the  late  date  is  cumulative.  1.  The 
sarcophagus  of  Esmunazar  represents  a  late  Egyptian  type.2  2. 
The  characters  in  the  hieroglyphic  inscription  on  the  sarcophagus 
of  Tabnit  point  to  the  latest  Persian  period;3  which  implies  that 
the  Phoenician  inscription  is  even  later.  3.  DD^ft  pK4  is  not 
a  Persian  title;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  used  several  times  of 
the  Ptolemies.5  4.  The  term  p"1N  is  thought  to  be  a  trans- 
literation of  the  Greek  kldwXov?  Weighty  though  these  argu- 
ments may  be,  they  have  not  convinced  all  scholars,  and  it 
must  be  admitted  that  they  are  by  no  means  conclusive.  The 
successive  stages  in  the  art  of  Egypt  are  not  definitely  enough 
marked  off  from  one  another  to  justify  the  assertion  that  the 
sarcophagus  of  Esmunazar  could  not  come  from  the  fifth  or 
even  the  sixth  century  B.C.  The  same  is  true  of  the  character 
of  the  hieroglyphic  writing.  Nor  is  the  argument  from  silence 
in  the  case  of  DD^D  pK  conclusive;  and  the  identification 
upon  which  the  fourth  argument  is  based  has  been  called  into 
question.7 

On  the  other  hand,  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  early  date 
are  equally  inconclusive.  Dussaud  has  pointed  out8  that  the 
facts  in  the  case  do  not  presuppose  as  long  an  interval  between 
the  earliest  and  latest  burials  at  Ayaa  as  is  assumed  by  Reinach. 

1  e.g.,  E.  Meyer,  End.  Bibl.,  art.  Phoenicia ;  Berger,  Rev.  arch.,  1887,  II,  pp.  7,8. 
"Who  knows,"  says  the  latter,  "if  not  the  death  and  the  end  of  the  dynasty 
of  Esmunazar,  who  appears  to  have  died  without  children,  coincided  with  the 
change  of  government — from  the  early  Seleucids  to  the  Ptolemies;  see  above, 
p.  72 — and  with  the  beginning  of  the  era  of  the  people  of  Tyre?" 

2  Renan,  Mission,  p.  414,  n.  3;  C.  I.  S.,  I,  p.  20. 

3  Maspero,  Rev.  arch.,  1887,  II,  p.  9.  4  C.  I.  S.,  I,  3,  I.  18. 
5  C.  I.  S.,  I,  Nos.  93,  94,  95.     The  inscr.  of  Ma'sub,  Annates  du  Muste  Guimet, 

X,  pp.  503,  508;  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  V,  p.  223;  cp.  253. 

9  HaleVy,  Rev.  des  Etudes  Juives,  XV,  pp.  292-295;  cp.  Driver,  Notes  on  the 
Hebrew  Text  of  the  Books  of  Samuel,  p.  XXVIII. 

7  Sometimes  the  finding  in  the  tomb  of  Tabnit  of  a  coin  bearing  the  name 
of  Ptolemy  has  been  urged  in  favor  of  a  late  date,  but  Reinach  denies  that  it 
was  found  there;  he  affirms  that  it  was  found  in  a  tomb  of  a  later  date;  Une 
ntcropole,  p.  354.  8  Rev.  arch.,  1905,  I,  p.  16ff . 


DATE  OF   ESMUNAZAR   DYNASTY  151 

The  same  writer  has  made  a  new  attempt  to  fix  the  date  of  the 
dynasty  of  Esmunazar.1  He  believes  that  there  is  enough  in 
the  arguments  of  Reinach  to  make  improbable  the  late  date 
suggested  by  Clermont-Ganneau.  On  the  other  hand,  he  thinks 
that  there  is  no  warrant  for  going  back  to  the  sixth  century;  he, 
therefore,  suggests  a  date  between  the  two  extremes,  470-410 
B.C.  This  date  is  based  chiefly  upon  the  testimony  of  coins  from 
Sidon.  Babelon  distinguishes2  between  seven  types  of  Sidonian 
coins  struck  between  400  and  332  B.C.  To  five  of  these  types, 
he  thinks,  correspond  five  Sidonian  kings,  four  of  whom  he 
identifies  as  follows:  Strato  I,  374-362;  Tennes,  362-350; 
Euagoras  of  Salamis,  349-346;  Strato  II,  346-332.  Between 
400  and  332,  therefore,  no  room  can  be  found  for  the  dynasty  of 
Esmunazar.  But  Rouvier  has  gone  beyond  the  labors  of 
Babelon  and  has  differentiated,  preceding  the  four  kings  named 
by  Babelon,  nine  additional  types  of  coins,  belonging  to  the 
period  from  c.  480  to  374  B.C.3  Dussaud  thinks  that  the  names 
on  some  of  these  types  cannot  be  identified  with  the  names  in  the 
dynasty  of  Esmunazar;  but  all  these,  he  believes,  can  be  placed 
later  than  410,  which  leaves  480  or  470-410  as  a  suitable  place 
for  the  dynasty.4  We  know  that  during  these  years  Sidon  was 
supreme  in  Phoenicia,  and  Dussaud  suggests  that  for  the 
services  rendered  to  the  Persian  kings,  one  of  them  may  have 
bestowed  upon  Esmunazar  Dor  and  Joppa.5 

//  it  could  be  proved  that  the  dynasty  cannot  belong  to  the 
close  of  the  fourth  and  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  the 
period  suggested  by  Dussaud  might  offer  a  suitable  place;  how- 
ever, a  date  subsequent  to  Alexander  the  Great  seems  to  accord 
best  with  what  we  do  know  from  other  sources  of  the  history  of 

1  lb.,  p.  Iff.  3  Bull,  de  corresp.  hell.,  1891,  p.  293ff . 

3  Journal  internat.  d'arch.  numism.,  1902,  pp.  99ff.,  229ff. 

*  Clermont-Ganneau  thinks  that  Babelon's  conclusions  are  in  perfect  accord 
with  his  own  views — Journal  Asiat.,  1892,  I,  p.  115. 

5  Cp.  Scylax,  p.  42.  Clermont-Ganneau  sees  an  allusion  to  this  gift  in  Theo- 
critus, Idyl.,  XVII,  I.  110,  which  says  that  Ptolemy  II  gave  much  to  the  brave 
kings;  Annates  du  Musce  Guimet,  X,  p.  508. 


152  ANTIQUITIES   AND   INSCRIPTIONS 

Phoenicia.  If  this  conclusion  is  correct,  the  order  in  which  the 
kings  ruled  must  have  been  Abdalonimus,  Esmunazar  I,  Tabnit, 
Esmunazar  II,  Bod-Astart,  §edek-yathon(?),  Philocles,  Republic.1 
The  inscriptions  and  sarcophagi  discussed  in  the  preceding 
pages  are  undoubtedly  the  most  important  archseological  finds 
made  on  the  site  of  ancient  Sidon,  but  to  these  may  be  added  a 
few  other  objects  which  are  not  without  interest.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  a  beautiful  marble  column  of  the  third  century 
B.C.  It  contains  an  inscription  of  two  lines,  which  states  that 
the  column  was  erected  by  "DDO"Dy  in  honor  of  ]?2frW.  This 
inscription  is  of  interest  because  it  mentions  the  Assyrian 
deity  [O1?^,  and  in  the  name  of  the  donor  occurs  the  divine 
element  "13DO  =  "TDtO  =  Mvij/uhtuvt}.2  Two  fragments  of  inscrip- 
tions containing  two  or  three  lines  of  writing  are  mentioned 
by  Clermont-Ganneau  as  having  been  found  near  Sidon,3  but 
they  are  so  damaged  that  he  makes  no  attempt  to  translate 
them.  He  also  describes  a  beautiful  sarcophagus  made  of  white 
marble  and  ornamented  with  sculptures  representing  mythical 
scenes.4  It  comes  from  the  first  centuries  of  the  Roman  empire 
and  belonged  to  one  Hermogenes,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifty. 
A  fragment  of  a  dedicatory  inscription  of  two  lines  was  found  in 
the  temple  of  Esmun.5  Levy  describes  a  bilingual  Nabathean- 
Greek  inscription,  which  he  dates  c.  25  A.D.6  In  addition  to 
these  many  interesting  objects  and  inscriptions  in  Phoenician, 
Greek,  and  Latin,  coming  from  periods  far  apart,  have  been 
found  in  the  burying  places  and  gardens  surrounding  the  present 
town.7  Also  a  few  Egyptian  fragments  have  been  found.  The 
most  interesting  of  these  is  a  fragment  of  black  basalt,  on 
which  may  be  seen  part  of  a  royal  figure  holding  staff  and 
mace.  On  the  back  is  an  inscription.  Though  damaged,  it  is 
thought  to  contain  the  name  Necho.8 

1  See  above,  p.75.        *  Journal  A  siat.,  1892, 1,  p.l07f.  ;Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  I,  p. Iff. 

•  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  I,  p.  77ff.  *  lb.,  I,  p.  285ft .  5/6.,V,p.  34. 
8  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  XXIII,  p.  435ff.                                           7  See  Appendix  III. 

•  Proceed,  of  Soc.  of  Bibl.  Arch.,  1894,  pp.  90,  91;  Mitteil.  der  Vorderasia- 
tischen  Gesellschaft,  1904,  p.  342ff. 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSCRIPTIONS  152 

In  conclusion  mention  may  be  made  of  a  few  inscriptions  which 
were  not  found  in  Sidon,  but  which  have  important  bearing  on 
the  history  of  Sidon  or  of  Sidonians.  Here  first  place  must  be 
assigned  to  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  5,  a  votive  inscription  in  a  bronze  bowl 
dedicated  to  pOP  ^2  by  a  servant  of  Hiram,  king  of  the 
Sidonians.  This  is  the  oldest  Phoenician  inscription  known  at 
present;  it  belongs  to  the  period  of  Hiram  II,  who  reigned  in  the 
eighth  century  B.C.1  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  C.  I. 
S.,  I,  No.  114,2  a  bilingual  inscription  from  Delos,  which  mentions 
Abd-Astart,  king  of  the  Sidonians  =  Strato  I,  374-362.  From 
Athens  come  C.  I.  S.,  I,  Nos.  115,  116,  119,  as  witnesses  to  the 
widespread  influence  of  the  Sidonians.  Another  inscription 
from  the  Piraeus  records  a  decree  of  the  Sidonian  colony  in  the 
Pirseus  to  honor  a  fellow-citizen,  Sama'-baal,  for  services  rendered 
while  he  was  an  official  of  the  community.3  Records  have  been 
preserved  also  of  Sidonian  citizens  receiving  the  honor  of  proxenos 
and  benefactor;  for  example,  Apollonides,  son  of  Demetrius,* 
Heliodorus,  son  of  Dionysius,5  and  Heliodorus,  son  of  Mousaios.6 
Sons  of  Sidonians  are  named  as  being  in  the  corps  of  the  Attic 
ephebi,7  and  as  victors  in  gymnastic  games  at  Athens8  and  at 
Delos.9 

A  few  words  may  be  added  concerning  Sidonian  coins.  Gese- 
nius  knew  only  a  few,10  and  until  quite  recently  it  was  thought 
that  the  coining  of  money  in  Sidon  had  its  beginning  during  the 

1  See  above,  p.  46;  and  v.  Landau,  Beitrage  zur  Altertumskunde  des  Orient  r 
I,  p.  17ff.  By  some  it  is  assigned  to  a  much  earlier  date;  Lidzbarski,  Hand- 
buch,  p.  176. 

2  See  above,  p.  143. 

3  Hoffmann,  Ueber  einige  phbnikische  Inschriften,  No.  1 ;  cp.  C.  I.  A./II,  suppl. 
No.  13356. 

«C.  I.  A.,  II,  No.  171. 

5  Bull,  de  corr.  hell,  1898,  p.  409. 

8  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  Ill,  p.  146. 

7  C.  I.  A.,  II,  No.  482, 11.  Ill,  121,  123. 
■ 76.,  No.  448, 1. 16;  966, 1.  21 ;  968, 1. 53. 

9  Bull,  de  corr.  hell,  VI,  p.  146. 

10  Monumenta,  pi.  34;  p.  264ff.  The  first  Phoenician  coin  from  Sidon  was 
recognized  in  1708;  Lidzbarski,  Handbuch,  p.  93. 


154 


ANTIQUITIES  AND   INSCRIPTIONS 


Ptolemaic  period,1  but  the  more  recent  investigations  of  J.  P. 
Six,2  E.  Babelon,3  and  J.  Rouvier4  have  made  it  certain  that 
coins  were  struck  in  Sidon  at  a  much  earlier  period,  Rouvier 
tracing  them  back  to  c.  480  B.C.  At  that  time  the  Sidonians 
were  the  most  useful  of  the  vassals  of  the  Persian  kings,5  and  it 
is  not  strange  that  in  return  for  the  services  rendered  they  should 
have  received  from  their  sovereigns  certain  privileges,  among 
them  permission  to  coin  their  own  money. 


1  Rawlinson,  History  of  Phoenicia,  p.  534. 

7  Numismatic  Chron.,  1877,  p.  209ff.;  1884,  p.  146ff.;  1894,  p.  334ff. 

8  Bull  de  corr.  hell,  1891,  p.  293ff. 

*  Journal  internat.  d'arch.  numism.,  1902,  pp.  99ff.,  229ff. 
6  See  above,  p.  61ff. 

•  See  further,  Appendix  II. 


KINGS  OF  SIDON  155 


APPENDIX  I 

KINGS  OF  SIDON  WHOSE  NAMES  ARE  KNOWN  FROM  THE  INSCRIP- 
TIONS AND   CLASSICAL  WRITINGS 

I.  Egyptian  Vassal  Kings  of  Sidon. 
c.  1375.     Zimrida.1 

II.  Kings  of  Tyre  Ruling  in  Sidon.2 

c.  738.    Hiram.3 
c.  734.    Metena.4 
c.  730-701.    Luli.5 

727.    Assyrian  Vassal  Kings  of  Sidon. 

701-?.    Tubalu.6 
(?)-678.    Abdimilkuti.7 

1  Mentioned  very  frequently  in  the  Tel-el-Amarna  correspondence  (see 
above,  p.  34ff.).  B.  90,  11.  33,  34,  implies  that  his  ancestors  also  were  kings 
of  Sidon;  but  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  how  many  were  kings  or  how  long 
they  reigned. 

2  See  above,  pp.  43-47. 

3  III  R.  9,  I.  50ff.;  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  5;  G.  Smith,  Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  274, 
I.  lOff.  See  above,  p.  46.  The  Phoenician  equivalents  of  the  royal  names 
have  been  given  in  the  historical  sections  above,  in  all  cases  in  which  it  was 
possible  to  determine  these  equivalents. 

4 II  R.  67, I.  66;  see  above,  p.  47. 

5  Sennacherib,  Bull.  Inscr.  2  and  3, 11. 17-20;  I  R.  43, 11. 13,  14;  Taylor  Cyl., 
Col.  II,  11.  34-46;  Bull.  Inscr.  4;  see  G.  Smith,  Hist,  of  Senn.,  p.  54;  III  R.  12, 
I.  18.  Josephus,  Ant.,  IX,  14,  2,  says  that  Luli  reigned  thirty-six  years.  See 
above,  p.  48ff. 

8  The  Assyrian  Inscriptions  named  in  note  5  on  preceding  page. 

7 1  R.  45,  Col.  1, 11.  9-53;  III  R.  15,  Col.  II,  11.  27-30;  Babyl.  Chron.  B.,  Col. 
IV,  I.  Iff. 


156  APPENDIX 

IV.    Persian  Vassal  Kings  of  Sidon. 

c.  445 DP.1 

c.  435 0D.2 

c.  425 DP.3 

c.  410 ft.4 

c.  400 D.5 

c.  380 ae 

374-362.  Stratol.7 

362-351.  Tennes.8 

351-350.  Interregnum.9 

350-346.  Euagoras  II  of  Salamis.10 

346-332.  Strato  II." 

V.     Vassal  Kings  of  Alexander  and  of  the  Ptolemies. 

332-?.    Abdalonimus.12 

c.  325.    Esmunazar  I.18 

c.  320.    Tabnit.14 

c.  314-300.    ESmunazar  II  (Em-A§tart).15 

c.  300-280.    Bod-Astart.16 

c.  280-275.    Philocles.17 

c.  275.    Republic(?).18 

1  Type  of  Sidonian  coins,  IV;  see  below,  p.  159. 

2  Type  V.  s  Type  VI.  *  Type  VII . 

6  Type  VIII.  •  Type  X. 

7  Type  XI;   C.  I.  G.,  I,  87;  C.  I.  A.,  II,  86;  Theopompos,  Fragm.  126; 
^Elianus,  Varia  hist.,  VII,  2;  Jerome,  Adv.  Jov.,  I,  45. 

8  Type  XII;  Diodorus,  Bibl  hist.,  XVI,  41-45. 

9  See  note  10. 

10  Type  XIII;  Bull,  de  corr.  hell,  1891,  p.  310 ;  Diodorus,  XVI,  46. 

11  Curtius,  IV,  3,  4;  Justin,  XI,  10;  type  XIV. 

12  Curtius,  IV,  3,  4;  Justin,  XI,  10;  type  XVII. 

13  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3;  Inscr.  of  Tabnit;  Inscr.  of  Bod-A§tart. 
"Inscr.  of  Tabnit;  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3. 

18  C.  I.  S.,  I,  No.  3. 

18  Inscriptions  of  Bod-Ai-start;  see  above,  p.  143ff. 

"  C.  I.  A.,  II,  1371 ;  Bull,  de  corr.  hell,  IV,  327ff.;  XIV,  407,  409;  XV,  137. 

18  See  above,  p.  75. 


KINGS  AND  COINS  157 


APPENDIX  II 

THE   COINS  OF  SIDON 

As  is  stated  on  page  155,  until  quite  recently  it  was  thought 
that  the  coining  of  money  in  Sidon  had  its  beginning  during  the 
Ptolemaic  period.1  In  1877  B.  V.  Head  still  speaks  very  hesi- 
tatingly about  Sidonian  coins  of  the  Persian  period.2  Ten 
years  later  he  calls  the  coins  which  he  describes  in  the  earlier 
work  Sidonian,  and  suggests  that  they  may  have  been  struck  in 
Tripolis,  in  the  quarter  belonging  to  the  Sidonians.3  This  is  in 
accord  with  the  view  expressed  three  years  earlier  by  J.  P.  Six,4 
who  discussed  Sidonian  coins  as  early  as  1877  in  an  article 
entitled  Observations  sur  les  monnaies  pheniciennes.5  In  it  he 
distinguishes  between  three  types  of  Sidonian  coins  struck  during 
the  Persian  period.  Under  each  he  recognizes  several  variations 
— under  the  first  type,  six,  under  the  second,  five,  and  under  the 
third,  six.  To  the  years  332-309  he  assigns  thirty-seven  coins, 
one  or  more  to  each  year,  with  the  exception  of  319-315,  to 
which  years  are  assigned  none.  He  also  mentions  numerous 
coins  of  the  period  of  the  Ptolemies  and  the  Seleucidse,  and 
of  the  period  of  Sidonian  autonomy,  as  late  as  43  A.D.6  In 
1894  he  had  come  to  distinguish  seven  types  belonging  to  the 

1  J.  Brandis,  Das  Miinz-,  Mass-,  una1  Gewichtswesen  in  Vorder  Asien,  p.  270. 

2  International  Numismata,  Prt.  Ill,  34,38. 

3  Historia  Numorum,  p.  671. 

*  Numism.  Chron.,  1884,  p.  146ff. 

5  Numism.  Chron.,  1877,  p.  177ff.  The  coins  from  Sidon  are  discussed  on 
p.  195ff. 

6  This  shows  to  be  incorrect  the  statement  of  Lenormant  (Diet,  des  an- 
tiquiUs  grecques  et  romaines,  under  Drachma  tyria)  that  Pompey  closed  the 
mint  of  Sidon  in  63  B.C.  What  is  said  in  the  subsequent  pages  will  show 
that  Reinach's  statement,  that  the  coinage  of  money  was  suppressed  in  Tyre 
in  56  A.D.  (Actes  et  conferences  de  la  socUte  des  Etudes  Juives,  p.  CCVI)  cannot 
be  referred  to  Sidon,  as  is  done  by  Lambert  in  Rev.  des  Etudes  Juives,  LI,  p.  234. 


158 


APPENDIX 


period  between  c.  380  and  331  B.C.  In  this  he  was  undoubtedly 
influenced  by  the  study  of  E.  Babelon,  Les  Monnaies  et  la  chro- 
nologic des  rots  de  Sidon,1  published  in  1891,  which  contained  the 
most  comprehensive  discussion  of  the  subject  up  to  that  time. 
Babelon,  on  the  basis  of  the  inscriptions  on  the  coins,  their  weight, 
style,  and  other  peculiarities,  distinguishes  seven  types  among 
the  alleged  Sidonian  coins  of  the  Persian  period: 


Type 

Obverse 

Reverse 

Max.  Weight 

Peculiarities  of  Type. 

A 

— 

— 

28  gr.  28 

War  galley  with  sail.  No  read- 
ing. No  attendant  behind 
chariot.  The  accessory  fig- 
ures incuse. 

B 

V 

W 

28  gr.  07 

War  galley  without  sail,  before 
a  fortress.  Horses  galloping. 
A  wild  goat  incuse.    Heading. 

C 

I  to  III 

yn 

25  gr.  90 

Galley  without  sail  upon  waves, 
Attendant  behind  chariot  in 
Asiatic  costume.  Reading 
and  numerals. 

D 

I  to  III 

vv 

25  gr.  95 

The  same  peculiarities. 

E 

i  to  ni- 

IV 

25  gr.  85 

Essentially  the  same  character- 
istics. The  attendant  wears 
sometimes  an  Asiatic,  some- 
times an  Egyptian  costume. 

F 

(year  1  to 
year  21) 

or 
?D 

26  gr. 

The  same  peculiarities.  Writ- 
ing is  Aramaic.  Attendant 
wears  always  the  Asiatic 
costume. 

G 

3 

V 

28  gr.  30 

Very  fine  style.  Attendant  is 
Egyptian.  Letter  V  appears 
only  on  oboles. 

Of  these,  type  A  he  assigns  to  the  reign  of  an  unknown  king 
whose  rule  terminated  in  374  B.C.  D#  on  the  coins  of  type  B 
he  considers  an  abbreviation  of  JTVltPyDy  =  Strato  I,  who 
reigned   374-362.    Type  C  he    assigns   to  Tennes,   who  was 


1  Bull,  de  corr.  hell,  1891,  p.  293ff. 


THE  COINS   OF  SIDON  159 

slain  by  Artaxerxes  Ochus  in  351 ;  $H  he  thinks  to  be  an  abbre- 
viation of  his  name.  After  the  destruction  of  Sidon  he  assumes 
an  interregnum  of  one  year,  which  was  ended  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Euagoras  II,  king  of  Salamis,  as  king  of  Sidon,  where 
he  ruled  until  346.1  To  him  he  assigns  type  D,  the  abbreviation 
VV  being  found  upon  coins  struck  by  the  same  king  in  Cyprus. 
The  next  type  belongs  to  Strato  II,  IV  =  fnfHPJHQJ?,  who 
succeeded  Euagoras  and  ruled  until  the  capture  of  Sidon  by 
Alexander  the  Great. 

The  coins  of  type  F,  bearing  the  inscription  *1?D,  were 
struck,  he  thinks,  by  Mazaios,  who  was  satrap  of  Syria  from  350 
B.C.  to  the  coming  of  Alexander,2  in  one  of  the  cities  of  Cilicia, 
over  which  he  had  been  appointed  satrap  as  early  as  360.  The 
last  group  originated  in  Egypt,  between  346  and  343,  under  the 
direction  of  the  eunuch  Bagoas,  friend  and  general  of  Arta- 
xerxes. Babelon  distinguishes  also  three  types  of  bronze  coins 
which  resemble  the  coins  described,  but  which,  in  the  absence 
of  names  and  dates,  cannot  be  assigned  to  definite  periods. 

The  most  exhaustive  study  of  Sidonian  coins  has  been  under- 
taken by  J.  Rouvier,3  who  describes  more  than  five  hundred 
different  kinds,  the  earliest  belonging  to  c.  480  B.C.,  the  latest  to 
about  235  A.D.    He  distinguishes  seventy-five  different  types. 

A.    The  Period  before  Alexander. 

a.    Phoenician  Kings  of  Sidon  (c.  480-332  B.C.). 

I.    Unknown  king  (c.  480-c.  470  B.C.),  four  kinds  of 

coin. 
II.     Unknown  king  (c.  470-460  B.C.),  one  kind. 

III.  Unknown  king  (c.  460-450  B.C.),  four  kinds. 

IV.  Unknown 12$  (c.  450-440  B.C.),  one  kind. 

1  Bull,  de  corr.  hell,  1891,  p.  310;  cp.  Diodorus,  XVI,  46. 

2  Cp.  Numismatic  Chron.,  1884,  p.  146ff. 

8  Journal  internal  d'arch.  numism.,  1902,  pp.  99ff.,  229ff.  On  the  whole 
Rouvier  agrees  with  the  conclusions  of  Babelon,  but  he  believes  that  the  coins 
of  types  F  and  G  also  originated  in  Sidon — Rev.  Numism.,  242ff.:  cp.  317ff., 
421ff. 


160  APPENDIX 

V.  Unknown 03  (c.  440-430  B.C.),  two  kinds. 

VI.  Unknown ty  (c.  430-415  B.C.),  two  kinds. 

VII.  Unknown D  (c.  415-405  B.C.),  one  kind. 

VIII.  Unknown D  (c.  405-395  B.C.),  one  kind. 

IX.  Unknown  kings  (of  types  III-VIII),  three  kinds. 

X.  Unknown 3  (c.  390-374  B.C.),  five  kinds. 

XI.  Strato  I  (374-363  B.C.),1  twenty-three  kinds. 

XII.  Tennes  (355-349  B.C.),  five  kinds. 

XIII.  Euagoras  II  (between  348  and  344  B.C.),  seven 

kinds. 

XIV.  Strato  II  (344-332  B.C.),  fourteen  kinds. 

b.    Other  Coins  of  the  Same  Period 

XV.    Mazaios,  the  satrap  (351-332  B.C.). 

(1)  Coins  of  Sidonian  type  dated  during  the  reign  of 

Artaxerxes  Ochus  (359-338  B.C.). 

(a)  The  interregnum  between  Tennes  and  Euagoras 

II  (350-347  B.C.),  five  kinds. 

(b)  Interregnum  between  Euagoras  II  and  Strato 

II;  also  the  first  years  of  Strato  (343-338  B.C.), 
six  kinds. 

(2)  Coins  of  Sidonian  types,  dated  in  the  reigns  of  Arsis 

and  Darius  III  (338-332  B.C.),  five  kinds. 
XVI.     Uncertain  (350-332  B.C.),  one  kind. 

B.    The  Period  of  Alexander  and  His  Immediate  Suc- 
cessors. 

a.     Phoenician  Kings  of  Sidon  (332-?). 

XVII.  (1)  Abdalonimus  (332-?),  two  kinds. 

(2)  Uncertain  kings  (332-281  B.C.,  or  later),  three 
kinds. 

1  The  dates  given  by  Rouvier  are  not  quite  the  same  as  those  suggested  above 
in  Appendix  I.     Absolute  certainty  is  not  possible  at  present. 


THE  COINS  OF  SIDON  161 

b.    Other  Coins  of  the  Same  Period. 

XVIII.    Coins    of    Alexander    (?-281    B.C.),    thirty-one 
kinds. 
XIX.    Philip  Arrhidaeus  (323-318  B.C.),  four  kinds. 

C.    Royal  Coins  without  Dates  or  Dated  according  to  the 
Era  of  the  Seleuchle  (175-95  B.C.).1 

XX.    Antiochus  IV,   Epiphanes  (175-164  B.C.),   ten 
kinds. 
XXI.    Demetrius    I,    Soter     (162-150    B.C.),    eleven 

kinds. 
XXII.    Alexander  I  (150-145  B.C.),  nine  kinds. 

XXIII.  Demetrius  II,  Nicator  (first  reign,  146-138  B.C.), 

sixteen  kinds. 

XXIV.  Antiochus  VII,  Euergetes  (138-129  B.C.),  twelve 

kinds. 
XXV.     Demetrius  II,  Nicator   (second  reign,   130-125 

B.C.),  eight  kinds. 
XXVI.2 

XXVII.  (1)  Cleopatra  Thea  and  Antiochus  VIII  (125-121 
B.C.),  two  kinds. 
(2)  Antiochus  VIII  (125-96  B.C.),  six  kinds. 
XXVIII.    Antiochus  IX  (116-95  B.C.),  two  kinds. 

D.    Autonomous  Coins  not  Dated  (175-112  B.C.). 

XXIX.  From  174-112  B.C.,  seven  kinds. 

XXX.  From  174-150  B.C.,  two  kinds. 

XXXI.  From  174-112  B.C.,  one  kind. 

XXXII.  From  174-112  B.C.,  one  kind. 

1  The  coins  of  the  Ptolemaic  period  are  not  discussed  by  Rouvier  in  this 
article. 

1  Rouvier  omits  apparently  type  XXVI ;  however,  the  omission  may  be  due 
to  a  typographical  error,  as  he  has  two  types  XXVII;  probably  XXVII  (1) 
should  be  XXVI. 

11 


162 


APPENDIX 


E.  Autonomous  Coins  Dated  according  to  the  Era  of 

the  Seleuchle  (121-111  B.C.). 

XXXIII.  From  121-114  B.C.,  five  kinds. 

XXXIV.  In  111  B.C.,  one  kind. 

F.  Autonomous  Coins  Dated  according  to  the   Era  of 

Sidon  (inaugurated  in  112-111  B.C.). 

XXXV.  From  106-102  B.C.,  four  kinds. 

XXXVI.  From  c.  100-95  B.C.,  two  kinds. 

XXXVII.  From  106  B.C.-43  A.D.,  twenty-four  kinds. 

XXXVIII.  In  110  B.C.,  one  kind. 

XXXIX.  From  109-43  B.C.,  fifteen  kinds. 

XL.  From  44-117  A.D.,  seventeen  kinds. 

XLI.  From  90-68  B.C.,  five  kinds. 

XLII.  From  97-10  B.C.,  twenty-two  kinds. 

XLIII.  In  29  B.C.,  one  kind. 

XLIV.  In  27  B.C.,  one  kind. 

XLV.  In  22  B.C.,  one  kind. 

XLVI.  From  116-118  A.D.,  four  kinds. 

XLVII.  In  26  A.D.,  one  kind. 

XLVIII.  In  87  B.C.,  one  kind. 

XLIX.  From  71  B.C.-6  A.D.,  ten  kinds. 

L.  In  29  or  24  B.C.,  one  kind. 

LI.  From  80-45  B.C.,  eight  kinds. 

LII.  In  67  A.D.,  one  kind. 

LIII.  From  63  B.C-116  A.D.,  twenty  kinds. 

LIV.  From  8  B.C-116  A.D.,  four  kinds. 

LV.  In44A.D.,onekind. 

G.  Imperial  Coins  Dated  according  to  the  Era  of  Sidon. 

LVI.  Augustus  (20  B.C.-14  A.D.),  eleven  kinds. 

LVII.  Augustus  and  Livia,  one  kind. 

LVIII.  Tiberius  (14-37  A.D.),  two  kinds. 

LIX.  Caligula  (37-41  A.D.),  two  kinds. 

LX.  Claudius  (41-54  A.D.),  four  kinds. 


THE  COINS  OF   SIDON 


163 


LXI.  Nero  (54-68  A.D.),  four  kinds. 

LXIL  Vespasian  (69-79  A.D.),  one  kind. 

LXIII.  Domitian  and  Domitia  (year  201,  era  of  S.),  one 

kind. 

LXIV.  Trajan  (98-117  A.D.),  four  kinds. 

LXV.  Hadrian  (117-138  A.D.),  four  kinds. 

LXVI.  Pescennius  Niger  (193,  194  A.D.),  one  kind. 

LXVII.  Caracalla  (197-217  A.D.),  three  kinds. 


H.    Imperial  Colonial  Coins. 

LXVIII.    Elagabalus  (218-222  B.C.).     Of  the  coins  struck 
under  this  emperor  in  Sidon  ten  groups  may  be 
distinguished;  of  each  several  kinds  are  known, 
altogether  eighty-one  kinds. 
LXIX.    Julia  Paula  (219-220  A.D.),  ten  kinds. 
LXX.    Annia  Faustina  (221  A.D.),  nine  kinds. 
LXXI.    Aquilia  Severa  (220,  221  A.D.),  one  kind. 
LXXII.    Julia  Sosemias  (218-222  A.D.),  two  kinds. 
LXXIII.    Julia  Ma?sa  (218-223  A.D.),  fifteen  kinds. 
LXXIV.    Severus  Alexander  Csesar  (before  222  A.D.),  four 

kinds. 
LXXV.     Severus  Alexander,    Emperor    (222-235  A.D.), 
twenty-two  kinds. 


164  APPENDIX 


APPENDIX  III 

ANTIQUITIES   FROM   SIDON 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  appendix  to  enumerate  briefly  some 
of  the  less  important  archaeological  finds  on  the  site  of  ancient 
Sidon  or  in  its  immediate  environments.  In  view  of  the  great 
number  of  antiquities  unearthed  a  description  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion here.  Renan  enumerates  many  antiquities  found  in  or  near 
Sidon,  among  them  numerous  Greek  and  Latin  inscriptions, 
both  of  the  early  period  and  of  the  later  Middle  Ages;  also 
Arabic  inscriptions.  A  great  number  of  objects  were  found  in  the 
necropolis,  including  a  terra  cotta  statue  of  Athene,  terra  cotta 
and  alabaster  vases,  lamps,  pottery  of  various  sorts,  divers  toilet 
articles,  gold  bracelets,  necklaces,  arms,  glassware,  keys  and 
bottles.1 

In  Archives  des  missions  scientifique,  1885,  are  mentioned  the 
following :  A  funeral  cippus,2  the  base  of  a  funeral  cippus  with  a 
Greek  inscription,3  a  disk  and  a  band  of  bronze  with  inscriptions,4 
a  statue  of  Astart,  a  fragment  of  a  Phoenician  inscription,5  five 
bronze  figures  of  Astart  and  one  of  a  man.6  In  Gazette  archeo- 
logique,  1877,  p.  102ff.,  Clermont-Ganneau  describes  a  small 
column  and  a  mural  tablet,  on  which  is  painted  a  female  figure 
reclining  on  a  bier,  with  her  head  raised  and  resting  on  one  hand.7 
On  p.  107ff.  he  describes  two  painted  funeral  columns  from  Sidon, 
and  the  fragment  of  a  third.     A  report  by  Lawrence  Oliphant8 

1  Renan,  Mission,  pp.  361ff.,  431.  A  summary  of  the  finds  is  given  on  p. 
484ff.  In  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,  V,  p.  212fT.,  are  discussed  six  of  the  Greek  inscrip- 
tions mentioned  by  Renan. 

2  P.  193.  3P.  212.  4P.  215.  6P.  228. 

6  Pp.  228,  229,  241. 

7  These  were  shown  to  him  in  Jerusalem,  and  local  tradition  claims  that  they 
were  found  there,  but  he  assigns  them  to  Sidon;  cp.  also  Archaeological 
Researches  in  Palestine,  I,  p.  77.  8  P.  E.  F.,  1886,  p.  13. 


ANTIQUITIES  FROM   SIDON  165 

states  that  a  friend  of  his  opened  a  tomb  near  Sidon,  in  which 
he  found  two  pottery  bottles  seven  inches  high,  three  glass  tear 
bottles,  one  silver  ring  much  corroded  and  oxidised,  with  an 
inside  diameter  of  an  inch  and  a  quarter,  the  ends  united  by 
a  scarabaeus,  on  the  under  side  of  which  is  a  single  character  H ; 
two  silver  finger  rings,  in  one  of  which  is  a  small  turquoise ;  a  gold 
pendant,  which  may  have  been  the  drop  of  an  earring;  two 
pebbles  carved  to  resemble  fishes'  heads,  two  copper  mirrors, 
some  beads,  and  many  other  small  objects  of  interest.  During 
the  excavations  in  1887  Hamdy  Bey  found  many  articles  of 
interest.  Of  these  he  describes1  vases  of  terra  cotta  and  ala- 
baster, bowls  in  bronze  and  marble,  buckles  in  bronze,  plates  of 
gold,  an  altar,  buttons  of  gold,  nails  of  bronze,  bracelets  of  silver, 
bronze,  and  gold,  bronze  mirrors,  rings  of  bronze  and  gold, 
frontlets  of  gold,  a  terra  cotta  lamp,  candelabra  in  bronze,  pearl 
beads,  toilet  articles  of  ivory,  etc. 

As  coming  from  Sidon,  Clermont-Ganneau  enumerates  also  the 
following  articles :  Two  heads  or  masks  of  terra  cotta,  a  fragment 
of  a  statue  of  terra  cotta  representing  the  Egyptian  deity  Bes, 
two  ear-pendants  of  gold,  the  base  of  a  vase  of  terra  cotta.* 
Fragments  of  six  Greek  inscriptions  are  described  in  Rev.  arch., 
1898.3 

In  addition  to  the  building  inscriptions  of  Bod-Astart,  von 
Landau  describes  a  number  of  articles  found  during  the  excava- 
tions under  the  direction  of  Macridy  Bey  on  the  side  of  the  ancient 
Esmun  temple.4  He  enumerates  fifteen  fragments  of  Phoenician 
inscriptions,  mostly  on  marble;  all  of  these  are  apparently  on 
objects  presented  as  votive  offerings.  One  inscription,  described 
also  in  Revue  biblique,  1902,5  contains  the  name  IVJiT,  another, 
described  in  the  same  Revue*  the  name  DN"DJ7.  Other  frag- 
ments too  small  to  be  deciphered  were  also  found.  The 
same  excavator  laid  bare  a  soldiers'  cemetery  of  the  period  of 

1  Une  necropole  royale  a  Sidon,  passim. 

3  Journ.  Asiat.,  1892, 1,  p.  119.  3 II,  pp.  109-112. 

*  Mitt,  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1904,  pp.  312-320. 

5  P.  524.  6  P.  523. 


166  APPENDIX 

the  Seleucidse,  in  which  were  found  some  fragments  of  Greek 
pottery  and  twelve  painted  funeral  columns,  nine  of  which  are 
described  by  Jalabert.1  Three  others  had  been  unearthed  in 
1897.2  The  votive  inscription  of  Achoris  of  Egypt,  396-383  B.C., 
shows  that  long  before  the  time  of  Bod-Astart  a  temple  of 
Esmun  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  Nahr-al-Auwaly.  In  a 
later  report3  von  Landau  mentions  a  seal  in  the  form  of  a  scara- 
bseus,  two  parts  of  a  stone  plate  showing  in  relief  the  picture  of  a 
male  deity,  a  figure  of  the  Egyptian  god  Bes,  two  heads  from  the 
classical  period,  and  more  pottery.  In  a  tomb  near  Hebbabiye 
was  found  a  figure,  carved  in  ivory,  which  served  at  one  time  as 
a  rouge-box. 

Two  remarkable  finds  of  ancient  coins  were  made.  In  1852 
were  unearthed  three  receptacles  of  lead,  each  containing  about 
1,200  coins;  in  1863  three  other  receptacles  of  lead  were  found, 
two  of  which  were  filled  with  coins  of  Alexander  the  Great.4 

That  Sidon  was  an  important  centre  of  glass  industry  is 
proved  by  the  interesting  finds  of  glass  objects  in  its  ruins.  In 
Verres  antiques  recueillis  en  Phenicie,  published  in  Paris  in  1881, 
are  described  174  articles  of  glass  found  in  Phoenicia,  chiefly  in 
Arados  and  Sidon.  The  author  does  not  specify  which  belong 
to  the  latter  city.  During  the  Greek  and  Roman  period  glass- 
blowing  was  well  known.  Heron  de  Villefosse  describes  frag- 
ments of  four  goblets  found  in  Sidon,  containing  the  inscription 
Xafie  TTjv  vetxrjv,  and  two  similar  ones  found  in  other  places,  which 
he  considers  of  Sidonian  workmanship.  The  N  of  rrjv  is  re- 
versed, the  peculiarity  serving  perhaps  as  a  trademark.5  When 
the  workers  in  glass  became  more  numerous  or  ambitious,  they 
stamped  their  names  upon  their  productions.  "Artas  the 
Sidonian, ' '  in  both  Greek  and  Latin,  is  found  on  some  rich  and 

1  Rev.  arch.,  1904,  II,  p.  Iff.  Cp.  Melanges  de  la  Faculty  Orientate,  Univer- 
sity St.  Joseph,  Beyrouth,  1906,  I,  p.  171ff.  Here  is  given  also  a  list  of  names 
found  on  the  funeral  columns  from  Sidon,  now  in  the  Louvre  in  Paris. 

2  Rev.  arch.,  1904,  I,  p.  234ff. 

8  Mitt,  der  Vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft,  1905,  p.  12ff. 

4  Pietschmann,  Geschichte  der  Phonizier,  p.  54. 

5  Bull,  de  la  soc.  nat.  des  antiquaires,  1904,  pp.  277-280. 


ANTIQUITIES   AND   GLASS  167 

beautiful  vases.  It  occurs  on  a  broken  blue  glass  handle  in  the 
British  Museum.  Artas  is  thought  to  have  lived  during  the 
reign  of  Hadrian.  On  another  handle  is  read,  "Made  by  a 
Sidonian. ' '  Other  Sidonian  workers  in  glass  whose  names  have 
been  preserved  are  Neikon  and  Eirenaios,  the  latter  belonging 
to  the  time  of  Caligula,  whose  picture  he  places  by  the  side  of 
his  own  name.1 

1  L.  Lobmeyr,  Die  Glassindustrie,  p.  7;  M.  A.  Wallace-Dunlop,  Glass  in  the 
Old  World,  p.  28;cp.  p.  21. 


VITA 

Frederick  Carl  Eiselen,  son  of  Christian  and  Elisabeth 
Eiselen,  was  born  on  November  25,  1872,  in  Mundelsheim, 
Oberamt  Marbach,  Kingdom  of  Wurtemberg,  Germany.  His 
early  education  he  received  in  the  public  schools,  and  after- 
ward he  attended  the  gymnasium  in  Landsberg  a.  W.  and 
Custrin.  Having  come  to  the  United  States  of  America  in  1890, 
he  entered,  in  1897,  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madison, 
New  Jersey,  from  which  he  graduated  three  years  later  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Divinity.  While  there  he  gave  special 
attention  to  Hebrew  and  Old  Testament  studies  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Professor  Rogers.  During  the  years  1898-1900  he  pur- 
sued graduate  studies  at  New  York  University  under  Professors 
Prince  and  Ellinwood  and  Mr.  Osborne,  receiving  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  in  1899.  The  following  year  he  studied  at 
Columbia  University  under  Professors  Gottheil  and  Jackson  and 
Dr.  Yohannan.  During  1901-02  he  studied  with  Professor 
Jastrow  and  Dr.  Clay  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
1902  he  was  elected  to  the  Professorship  of  Semitic  Languages 
and  Old  Testament  Exegesis  at  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute, 
Evanston,  Illinois,  which  position  he  now  occupies. 


168 


INDEX 


Abdalonimus,  69ff.,  156,  160. 

Abd-asirta,  34ff.;  letter  of,  37. 

Abd-astart,  143. 

Abdimilkuti,  52ff.,  155. 

Abi-milki,  35,  36. 

Adad-nirari  III,  45. 

Ahmad-al-Jazzar.  107,  120. 

Alexander  the  Great,  68,  69,  139,  140, 
161. 

Anonymous  pilgrims,  100,  101. 

Antiquities,  138ff.;fromSidon,  146ff., 
152;  from  Greece,  153. 

Antoninus  Martyr,  80. 

Antony,  76,  77. 
Aphrodite,  134. 
Apollo,  136. 
Apollodorus,  74. 
Apries,  58,  59. 
Aqueduct,  6. 

Arabic  geographers  and  historians,  2, 
80,  81,  83,  84, 85, 86,  88,  90,  91,  94, 
98,  99,  102,  103,  118. 
Artaxerxes  Ochus,  65-67. 
Artemis,  135. 
Arts,  122. 
Asclepios,  135. 
Assyria,  fall  of,  56. 
Assyrian    supremacy    in    Phoenicia, 

41ff.;  decline,  42,  46. 
Astart,  127,  128. 
Asur-bel-kala,  42. 
Asur-nasir-pal,  43. 
Athens,  63,  153. 
Attica,  64,  153. 
Augustus,  77. 
Aziru,  37. 

Baal-Lebanon,  124,  153. 
Babelon,  E.,  154,  158. 


Baibars,  sultan  of  Egypt,  98. 
Baldwin  I,  83,  84. 
Baldwin  II,  86. 
Bel,  129. 

Bishops  of  Sidon,  79,  87,  137. 
Bod-astart,  74,  143ff.,  156. 
Bordeaux  pilgrim,  79. 
Bronze  bowl,  153. 
Burial,  132. 

Census,  108,  137. 

Christianity,  79,  137. 

Christians  evacuate  Sidon,  99! 

City  states,  33. 

Clermont-Ganneau,  8,  11,  27,  74, 146  r 
151,  164,  165. 

Cnidus,  63. 

Coins,  151,  153, 154,  157ff. ;  claims  ex- 
pressed on  coins,  24,  25,  110,  111. 

Colonies,  HOff.;  origin  of,  112;  influ- 
ence of  Phoenician  cities,  114. 

Commerce,  115ff.;  transferred  from' 
Sidon,  107. 

Commercial  settlements,  113. 

Conrad  de  Montferrat,  91. 

Cosmologies,  132-134. 

Crusades,  82ff. 

Curses,  132. 

Customs,  131. 

Cyrus,  60. 

Da'am,  129. 

Daniel,  Abbot,  99. 

D'Arvieux,  105,  118,  119,  137. 

Deities,  124ff. 

Diodorus,  61,  65,  71,  72,  117. 

Dionysos,  135. 

Dussaud,  150. 

Dyes,  121. 


169 


170 


INDEX 


Earthquake,  88,  108. 

Egyptian     deities,     130;     Egyptian 

sources,     21,     22,     34;     Egyptian 

supremacy,  39. 
Elulaeus,  48,  51. 
Em-astart,  73,  141,  156. 
Environs  of  Sidon,  6. 
Esarhaddon,  9,  53,  54,  55. 
Esarhaddonsburg,  53,  55,  56. 
Esmun,  126,  127;  temple  of,  7,  8,  74, 

141,  143ff. 
Esmunazar  I,  73,  148,  156. 
ESmunazar  II,  73,  74,  140,  141,  142, 

148,  156. 
Esmunazar  dynasty,  145,  147ff. 
Euagoras,  65,  156,  160. 
Eustachius  Grenier,  86. 
Exports,  119-121. 
Ezekiel,  57,  114,  115. 

Fakhr-addin,  104,  105,  118,  123. 

Fertility,  2,  3. 

Frederic  Barbarossa,  91. 

Frederic  II,  94,  95. 

French  commerce,  105,  118,  119. 

Fretellus,  99. 

Future  life,  131. 

Glass,  122,  166,  167. 
Greece,  63,  76,  153. 
Greek  deities,  134ff. 

Habiri,  34ff. 

Hamdy,  O.,  138,  142,  165. 

Harbors,  3,  4,  121. 

Hasselquist,  119. 

Head,  B.  V.,  157. 

Helios,  135. 

Hermes,  137  note  1. 

Herod  Agrippa,  78. 

Herodotus,  27,  62. 

Hiram  I,  42. 

Hiram  II,  46,  153,  155. 

Hittites,  40. 

Homer,  19,  116. 

Idrlst,  103,  123. 
Imports,  119-121. 


Industries,  121ff. 
Inscriptions,  140ff. 
Institutions,  109. 
Irbil,  15  note  2. 
Island  Sidon,  9. 

Jeremiah,  56,  57. 

Jeremias,  F.,  21,  22,  40,  41,  42,  47, 

49,  52. 
Jerusalem,  59. 
Jews,  77,  108,  137  note  5. 
Joannes  Phocas,  100. 
John  of  Wurzburg,  100. 
Josephu3,  76,  77,  117. 
Julius  Caesar,  76. 

Kal'at-al-bahr,  4,  94. 
Kal'at-al-Mu'ezzeh,  5. 
Kings  of  Sidon,  155,  156. 
Krall,  J.,  15,  21,  22,  41. 

Laish,  111. 

Landau,  W.  von,  33,  42,  49,  50,  56, 

124,  143,  145,  147,  148,  153,  165, 

166. 
Law  school,  80. 
Leptis,  111. 
Louis  IX,  96. 
Lull  -  Elulseus,  51,  155. 

Malik-al-Adil,  92,  93. 
Maundrell,  H.,  106. 
Metena,  47,  155. 
Milestones,  7. 
Mnemosyne,  136. 
Mohammedan  conquest,  80. 
Mohammedanism,  137. 
Mongols,  97. 
Mosques,  5. 

Mourning  women,  139,  140. 
Movers,  C.  F.,  11,  16,  17,  19,  25,  27, 
28,  33,  41,  110. 

Nahr-al-Auwaly,  2,  7,  8. 

Name  Sidon,  10ff.;  orthography,  10; 

mythological      etymologies,       10 ; 

traditional    etymology,    11;    true 

meaning,  13,  14,  30,  31. 


INDEX 


171 


Nasir-i-Khusrau,  81,  123. 

Nebuchadrezar,  56ff. 

Necho,  58,  152. 

Necropolis,  5,  6,  138. 

Nergal,  130. 

New  Testament  references,  77,  78. 

Niebuhr,  C,  106, 119. 

Nur-addin,  88. 

Old  Testament  references,  18, 19, 117. 
Oliaros,  111. 

Parthians,  77. 

Pasha,  Sidon  residence  of,  106. 

Persian  supremacy,  60ff.,  revolt 
against,  64ff . 

Pliilip  Augustus,  91. 

Philocles,  74,  75,  156. 

Phoenicia,  extent,  1 ;  Plain  of,  1 ;  occu- 
pation by  Semites,  29,  30;  city 
states,  33;  conquest  by  Egypt,  33. 

Phoenician  colonies,  llOff. 

Phoenicians,  original  home,  27,  28; 
migration,  29,  110;  etymology  of 
name,  31  note  3;  a  seafaring  nation, 
114. 

Pilgrims,  79,  80,  99-101. 

Plain  of  Phoenicia,  1 ;  of  Sidon,  1,  2,  3. 

Pococke,  119. 

Population,  108,  109,  137. 

Poseidon,  136. 

Ptolemy  I,  71. 

Ptolemies,  71,  72. 

Purple,  31  note  3,  121. 

Quarters  of  Sidon,  8, 144, 145. 

Rawlinson,  G.,  1, 16,  33,  65, 121, 154. 
Reginald,  lord  of  Sidon,  89,  90,  91. 
Reinach,  Th.,  138,  140, 141, 142, 149, 

150. 
Religion,  124ff. 
Religious  census,  137;  customs,  131; 

institutions,  109. 
Renan,  E.,  2,  4,  6,  7,  139,  141,  150, 

164. 
Republic,  75,  76,  156,  162. 
Reseph,  136. 


Rib-addi,  34,  35. 

Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  91. 

Rivers  near  Sidon,  2. 

Rogers,  R.  W.,  29,  41,  42,  53,  60. 

Roman  supremacy,  76ff.,  162,  163. 

Rouvier,  J.,  154,  159ff. 

Ssewulf,  99. 

Saida,  10;  size  of,  3. 

Saladin,  89-91. 

Salman,  129. 

Salmaneser  I,  41. 

Salmaneser  II,  45. 

Salmaneser  IV,  47ff. 

Samas,  129. 

Sandys,  104. 

Sarcophagi,  139;  of  Alexander,  139, 
140;  of  mourning  women,  139,  140; 
of  Esmunazar  II,  140, 141 ;  of  Tab- 
nit,  142. 

Sedek,  128,  129. 

Sedek-yathon,  74,  146,  148. 

Seleucidse,  71,  72,  75,  161,  162. 

Semites,  original  home,  28;  migra- 
tions, 29. 

Sennacherib,  50ff. 

Sheol,  131. 

Shipyards  in  Sidon,  62,  71. 

Sid,  12,  13,  30,  31,  130,  131;  origin, 
13;  disappearance,  14. 

Sidon,  coins,  24,  25,  110,  111,  157ff.; 
antiquity,  16ff. ;  environs,  6;  ex- 
tent of  ancient  city,  7,  8;  of  modern 
town,  3;  harbors,  3,  4,  106;  Island 
Sidon,  9;  mosques,  5;  name,  lOff. ; 
necropolis,  5,  6,  138;  navy,  61,  62; 
quarters,  8,  144,  145;  present  con- 
dition, 108,  109;  residence  of  Per- 
sian kings,  61;  ruled  by  kings  of 
Tyre,  47,  50,  52;  secures  independ- 
ence, 52;  shipyards,  62,  71. 

Sidon,  the  firstborn  of  Canaan,  17. 

Sidon  and  Sidonian,  17ff.,  31;  in  Old 
Testament,  18;  in  Homer,  19;  in 
Greek  and  Latin  writers,  20. 

Silk  industry,  123. 

Six,  J.  P.,  154, 157. 


172 


INDEX 


Stone  age,  32  note  3. 
Strato  I,  64,  65,  156,  160. 
Strato  II,  69,  156,  160. 
St.  Willibald,  80. 
Ste.  Paula,  79. 

Tabnit,  73,  142,  143,  148,  156. 
Tanith,  129. 

Tel-el-Amarna  tablets,  22,  34ff. 
Templars,  88,  89,  97,  99. 
Temples,  6,  7,  8,  74, 141, 143ff. 
Tennes,  66, 156, 160. 
Textile  fabrics,  121. 
Theodosion,  79. 
Tiglathpileser  I,  41. 
Tiglathpileser  III,  46,  47. 


Toghtekin,  84. 
Tombs,  132,  138,  139. 
Torrey,  C.  C,  8,  144,  147. 
Tripolis,  Council  of,  61. 
Tubalu,  51,  155. 
Turkish  conquests,  102. 
Types  of  Sidonian  coins,  157ff. 
Tyre,  14,  15,  23,  24,  25,  35fl\,  40,  41, 
42,  43,  44,  47-50,  52,  55,  59,  60,  69. 

Vessels  entering  harbor  of  Sidon,  121. 

Winckler,  H.,  11,  12,  29,  32,  43,  46, 
47,  50,  54,  59,  110,  126,  144. 

Zeus,  136. 

Zimrida,  34ff.,  155;  letters  of,  38,  39. 


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